ATTN JMS: ANFaW "Cold Equation

 Posted on 5/8/1995 by jmsatb5@aol.com to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated


I don't see *any* similarity whatsoever. "Cold Equations" was most
definitely NOT about a "teenager who accidentally 'spaces' himself." For
starters it was a girl, but MOST important, in "Cold Equations," it was a
deliberate *choice* to walk out the airlock. The whole premise of the
story is that the young girl stows away on a ship bringing vaccine to a
colony world. Only other person on the ship is the pilot. The ship is
stripped down for speed; there's only enough fuel for the pilot, the ship,
and the landing. If she stays, the ship will run out of fuel on or just
before re-entry, they'll die and the colonists will die. If the pilot
sacrifices himself, she can't land the ship on her own, same result. So
she must make the conscious decision to sacrifice herself to save the
others, because you can't argue with math.

That is absolutely different from somebody screwing around and
accidentally getting blown out an airlock.

jms