It was a full minute before she spoke, and as she considered his words the expression of numbness left her eyes.
"Is that it?" she asked at last. "Just that the ship doesn't have enough fuel?"
"Yes."
"I can go alone or I can take seven others with me—is that the way it is?"
"That's the way it is."
"And nobody wants me to have to die?"
"Nobody."
"Then maybe—Are you sure nothing can be done about it? Wouldn't people help me if they could?"
"Everyone would like to help you but there is nothing anyone can do. I did the only thing I could do when I called the Stardust."
"And it won't come back—but there might be other cruisers, mightn't there? Isn't there any hope at all that there might be someone, somewhere, who could do something to help me?"
She was leaning forward a little in her eagerness as she waited for his answer.
"No."

a. Marilyn took a full minute to think about what she was going to say before she said it.
b.No one wants Marilyn to die, but there is no other hope for her at this point.
c.There are many people who want to help out with Marilyn’s situation.
d.The pilot gave Marilyn a one-word answer that she did not want to hear.

The complete conversation shows how Marilyn tries to persuade the man that there is another way out that it is not necessary for her to die, while he does not change his mind and tells her that it is impossible to take her in the ship because of the lack of fuel for another person, then in order to preserve the crew she must leave and die, not because they do not want to save her but because it is the only answer.