The dilemma of integrating Earth positronic robots into a society of non-Human sentient beings mandated the assistance of robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin. Calvin, 82, lived on Earth where she continued to serve as a consultant to U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, one of Earth's largest firms.

It was explained to Toxica that she would have to travel alone to the Solar system, disguise herself as an Earthling, and locate Dr. Calvin. After hearing about the Frontier and its urgent need of her services, Calvin would be given the choice to stage her death and return with Toxica to the White Light system.

Toxica was warned of the difficulty of sneaking into Earth's atmosphere without being noticed by the world's extensive array of detection satellites. But little did she know about the rising anti-robot revolts on Earth, or how they had selected Dr. Calvin as the most recent target for their attacks. She had not heard of extra-terrestrial fanatic Robert Anders, whose passionate search for alien visitors far outclassed any governmental defense system. Nor could she know about the more sinister motives of the Under Mine Organization, whose interests would very soon cross those of Toxica and the Frontier. . .

Toxica's small assault scout exited hyperspace, appearing in the far reaches of the Solar system. The time had come for Toxica to continue alone. She seated herself in a compact shuttle which then severed itself from the assault scout. The shuttle was specially designed to fool any Earth detection equipment, allowing Toxica to land on the Earth's surface undetected.

Toxica hid her shuttle in a thick forest area in what was, according to her map, somewhere in the northeast of the United States. Dressed in Earth-style clothing, Toxica walked a few miles to the nearest road, where after hours of trying to get a ride she was able to hail an empty taxi cab.

"Where to, lady?" asked a gray-haired Human male with large bristly notrils.

"Uh, New York City," she said, speaking the local language with obvious difficulty.

"You ain't from around here," replied the taxi driver, noticing Toxica's strong--and unrecognizable--accent. "The Big Apple is a good ways away. This is gonna cost ya."

It was upon arriving in New York City that Toxica realized that she had forgotten one of the most essential things: Earth currency!

"Here we are, lady. That'll be a hundred and sixty-two bucks."

"I--don't have any money."

"What?"

But the taxi driver was a kind-hearted man, and he could see that this new world was very foreign to Toxica. "Lady, you need a job?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well if you know how to drive a taxi cab, you can work for me."

"I would like that," said Toxica.

"Fine. What's your name?"

Toxica hadn't considered this. A name like hers would obviously not be common on this planet. "Uhm, Jane. Jane Vandura."

The next few days were spent learning how to drive an Earth automobile, which wasn't all that difficult considering Toxica's technical skills. Toxica's new job gave her a source of money, and the vehicle gave her convenient transportation when off duty.

It did not take long to find the central headquarters of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men in the middle of Manhattan. But as she approached the building, it quickly became apparent that something was wrong.

Crowds of angry protesters swarmed the sidewalks outside the building. Among the shouts, Toxica could hear accusations that robots were taking away Human jobs, that artificial life was "unnatural," and that the crowd wanted "Susan Calvin brought down from her tower."

Getting in the building's entrance through these crowds was not an option. Luckily, Toxica had her technology and computer skills to help her sneak into the heavily secured building from an upper floor.

Within the building, Toxica managed to meet up with Dr. Susan Calvin, a frosty old woman with discerning eyes and zero personality. Susan was at first skeptical of Toxica's story, but when the robopsychologist's demands for empirical evidence were satisfied, she agreed to meet with Toxica at a later time and return with her to the Frontier. It was Dr. Calvin's philosophy that the superstitious Earth held nothing for her, not then, not ever. The idea of traveling to a society where robotics was readily accepted--rather than protested--had a certain appeal to it.

Arrangements were made for Toxica and Susan to meet the following morning at Susan's apartment.

But as she was leaving the scene, Toxica noticed the shadow of a nervous Human following her. She waited until she and he were alone in an alley and then turned to face him.

He was short, with mussed, thinning hair, buck teeth and dusty eyeglasses. A wrinkled white lab coat envelopped the man like a straight jacket. "Uh--uh--Excuse me, Jane Vandura," said the man, revealing his yellow buck teeth in a self-confident grin. "That is your name, isn't it?" The man snickered--and snorted unintentionally.

"Yes," replied Toxica with a stern look.

"Heh heh, heh heh--*wheeze* I know who you are."

Toxica's regard stiffened. "You do. And from your name tag I see that you are designated as Dr. Robert Anders. So, we have been formally introduced. Have a nice day." With this, Toxica turned away and continued walking.

"Heh heh, yes. I know you. You're not from this planet. Heh heh, listen, just listen to this." The man pulled out a palm-sized audio recorder and replayed a portion of Toxica and Susan's private conversation.

Toxica stopped.

"I heard everything," said the man. "You came here from another planet. You're--you're an extra-terrestrial. They told me I was crazy, but now I have proof!"

Toxica brushed the man away. "They thought you were a lunatic before, and they'll think the same thing now. If you don't mind, I have things to do."

"Oh no," said the man, pulling out a small projectile pistol. "You're not getting away that easy. The world deserves to know the truth. And once I've had the chance to run you through a complete set of tests, I'll be able to give them that truth."

Toxica grit her teeth, snatching the man's shoulder in a martial arts move. "You can take your tests and--"

THFFT! THFFT!

Two projectile shots fired through a silencer. Toxica searched herself for wounds, but found none.

Blood spilled out of Robert Anders' mouth as he slowly keeled over into a lifeless heap on the ground.

Three men advanced from the shadows. Each man was clad entirely in black, with black-lensed glasses to match, and each held a long pistol with a silencer.

"Don't move!" ordered one of the three men.

But it was too late: Toxica had already knocked over a pile of trash cans and had disappeared around the corner of a blackened brick building.

The three men followed in frantic pursuit, but none of them fired their weapons.

At last, Toxica reached her taxi cab and lost the men in a flood of traffic.

But something bothered Toxica as she drove. She had seen one of those men before.

It was unmistakable: He had been in the crowd of protesters!

"One more day on this planet and I can leave this all behind," muttered Toxica with a sigh.

But the next morning, as Toxica arrived at Dr. Calivn's apartment, the doctor was nowhere to be found.

After a long wait, Toxica resorted to speaking with a few of the neighbors, using her personality and psycho-social skills to get as much information as she could.

According to the neighbors Dr. Calvin was last seen early that morning. A new type of vehicle called an nuclear speeder had rushed by and picked her up. Neither Dr. Calvin nor the vehicle was seen since.

A nuclear speeder, however, leaves a radiation signature in the ground as it passes. Earth radiology had not developed to the point of being able to reconstruct and follow the degraded energy trail left by the speeder, but Toxica had the whole gamut of Frontier technology at her disposition. It did not take her long to develop a technological device to detect the path of residual radiation left by the speeder.

The trail led to a deserted ghetto where, among a few junked and partially dismantled cars, sat a gleaming black nuclear speeder.

The speeder was empty, and the closest building seemed to be empty as well.

Toxica advanced into the echoing entry hall of the building and looked around. The door behind her suddenly shut--of its own will. The window shades began closing, one after the other, sealing Toxica into darkenss.

"Welcome. . .Toxica Vandura," said a male Human voice. This was the first time someone on Earth had referred to her by her real name. "I knew you would find some way to follow the radiation trail left by the nuclear speeder outside. And I knew you would come alone.

"Now that you're here, let's talk. Oh, by the way, I wouldn't try anything heroic. We're separated by six inch shielding, and I'm fully prepared to kill both you and Dr. Calvin if you should opt not to cooperate.

Toxica did not reply.

"Well, then. Now that we understand each other, let me officially welcome you to Earth--and more specifically to the Under Mine, my own realm. Nothing happens in this city without the Under Mine's knowledge."

"Why did you kill Robert Anders?" These were Toxica's first words.

"Robert Anders. He was simply an annoyance. It's you I want."

"Let me guess. Love at first sight."

The voice replied with a rasping laugh. "I won't say that the thought didn't cross my mind, but my principal interest is what I'd like to think of as a little 'competitive edge.' You see, the Frontier is not the only society that has discovered Earth. A few of your friends have visited as well. I believe you know them as the Sathar."

Toxica froze. Could things possibly get any worse?

"Yes, I see that you recognize the name," replied the male voice. "It appears that they are most interested in a competitive edge over the Frontier--and they think that Earth positronic technology might just be it. That is why the Frontier sent you here. To fetch Dr. Calvin and request her expertise in harnessing this technology for the Frontier's use. Well, the Sathar want Dr. Calvin so that they can be first to the punch. And you couldn't imagine what the Sathar have offered me to make that happen."

"It's not worth it," said Toxica. "The Sathar are genocidal. They're bent on destroying all non-Sathar sentient life--including your civilization here on Earth!"

"Perhaps. That's why I need you. I don't care what happens to the Frontier, but with your help--the knowledge and technology you can provide me, I can lead the Sathar right into my hands, give them what they want, accept their reward, and then when they least expect it--strike!"

"It won't work. You have no idea who you're dealing with. The only thing you can expect from the Sathar is the total and unconditional annihilation of your world. If the combined military forces of all the Frontier planets have not been able to eliminate the Sathar, the puny and technologically inferior forces under your control will have no chance of survival."

"You are a clever woman, Toxica. Using every opportunity to emphasize your value to me. Okay then, what is your price?"

"You misunderstand my motives. I will not cooperate--not at any price!"

"You will have a good while to reconsider that, while you're waiting in solitary confinement!"

Six men with submachine guns rushed onto the scene, leading Toxica downstairs through a series of unlit hallways to a cramped cell, also with no lighting.

But she did not enter the cell. As one of the men jabbed her in the ribs with the muzzle of his gun, she snatched the weapon--simultaneously back-kicking the man in the gut.

The darkness was definitely working to Toxica's advantage. Before the other five men knew what was happening, they were dodging a spray of automatic fire.

"Don't fire!" shouted one of the men. "You'll hit the other guys." Having betrayed his location in the darkness with these words, the man promptly accepted a full burst of submachine gun fire in the gut, causing him to collapse with pain.

"Don't let her get away!" hollered another of the men. But by that time it was too late. She already had gotten away.

Toxica slid around a corner and crouched in the darkness. Realizing that her gun was out of ammo, she silently laid it down.

She couldn't see anything, but from the feel of the walls Toxica appeared to be in some sort of hallway.

Hearing footsteps, she scurried away in the darkness--regretting that, unlike Yaundorr or Kro'khan, she was not trained in the arts of stealth and concealment.

At long last, she seemed to be alone. She rolled her backpack from her shoulders and felt inside. IR goggles. Good. That would help her navigate in the darkness and would reveal the heat signatures of other Humans--even behind walls. And her techkit. This would be useful for deactivating the lock on Dr. Calvin's cell, assuming she was down there somewhere.

After several minutes of searching, Toxica could see the heat signature of what looked like a woman--about Dr. Calvin's size, within a nearby cell. Unfortunately, she could also see the more obvious heat signatures of two burly guards standing outside the cell.

Toxica hadn't taken any of her Frontier-style weapons outside of her hidden shuttle--for fear of them betraying her off-world identity. And Earth-style weapons would have been too easily detected for her to have brought them along. With no other options, Toxica fell back on her martial arts training, taking the two guards by surprise with a few nerve combat strikes to the neck.

The first guard fell motionless to the floor, but the second was determined to cause more trouble. Crouching in a defensive ball, he pulled out a small black device--a hand-held communication unit of some sort. But Toxica kicked the device from his hand before he could report the emergency. The hand-held transmitter clacked of the walls and floor, landing out of reach.

The guard replied with a swift upswing of his rifle butt, knocking Toxica against the wall. The guard scrambled for his radio transmitter, but Toxica leaped upon him before he could reach it. The man tried to defend himself with his automatic rifle, but it was pried loose in the struggle. Toxica followed through with two high-powered punches. The guard fought back, but in the end, only Toxica was standing.

Toxica set to work, freeing Dr. Calvin and sneaking out of the building. With quick ingenuity--and a handy techkit, she managed to hotwire the nuclear speeder outside and flee through the streets of the city.

But a glance in her rear-view mirror showed that at least two Under Mine cars--full of armed agents--were in hot pursuit!

"We've got to get out of here!" said Toxica to Dr. Calvin. "First we've got to lose these guys; then we're heading straight for the shuttle I came in!"

And after a dangerous chase through the crowded roads of Manhattan, Toxica thought she had lost them. But when she and Dr. Calvin reached the hidden shuttle, the rapid approach of a black groundcar proved her wrong.

"Get inside!" ordered Toxica. "Now!"

Both women rushed through the shuttle's automatic hatch as the men in the vehicle began firing.

In the next instant, the shuttle hatch whisked back open, revealing Toxica with a large rifle--the likes of which the men in the car had never seen! Two red laser beams blinded the men, melting into the front of their vehicle.

"What was tha--" screamed the stunned driver as he lost control and collided with a tree.

Toxica returned to the cockpit of the shuttle. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

The shuttle's engines roared to life, sending the shuttle to the sky. . .and the stars beyond.

The celebration in White Light was small, due to the secrecy of Earth's existence, but fulfilling nonetheless. Kro'khan, Yaundorr, Paaglo and Flash were there to congratulate Toxica on her success.

Bogert and Lanning were overjoyed to again see their colleague. Calvin did not return the warm greeting, but rather acknowledged her need to tend to the problem of integrating positronic robots into Frontier society. Bogert smiled to Lanning, neither one surprised by Calvin's trademark antisocial behavior. In fact, it was quite comforting to see it again.

On Earth, it was believed that Dr. Calvin died at the ripe age of 82. But in the Frontier, the doctor's work continued for some time.