Quote:
Originally Posted by Thasaidon
On reflection the "dilemma' is plausible. My feeling is though that in the situation the pilot of the courier could only act as he did and "space" the stowaway. I do not think it was a real dilemma but more a case of psychologically did the pilot have the moral strength to space the girl.
If he did not then many more would die on the colony world he was delivering cures for a plague to. The girls brother was on the colony hence her stowing away.
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One complaint people have is that the pilot (and the people he talked to) didn't seem to do enough to try to find a solution. It might have been even more powerful if he had tossed out unneeded equipment -- and then found it still wasn't enough mass.
Some modern takes see this more as a sign of a greedy corporation cutting corners rather than "physics" or "the dangers of space." Others still see this as an example of"Stupid people die in space." (OTOH why didn't they lock the door so nobody could sneak onto the ship? Why didn't the pilot check the closet before taking off?)