Into Tolari Space (Tales of Tolari Space) Read Online Free

intending to transmit an order to his engineering section, then scowl ed at the static on the display. What irritating guests these humans had proven to be. He called a servant to send for his senior engineers.
    Shaking his head, he left his sitting room and checked the console in the desk of his private study. He gusted a sigh when it came to life, unaffected by the interference that had damaged the more lightly shielded tablets. That lack would have to be remedied. A great deal of work needed to be done.
    * * *
    It took most of two days to get shielded tablets distributed to those who needed them most. Some of the tablets damaged by the human phase technology could be repaired. The rest were replaced.
    The Monral’s tablet had proven reparable. He stood leaning against the windows in his study while he read a summary of the morning status reports. The city grain stores were low, but the spring harvest was starting and would soon remedy that. A child of extraordinary sensitivity had been identified at the common school outside the stronghold walls. Excellent. Perhaps she could be trained as a political advisor. A laborer with cora reaction had been brought to the stronghold apothecaries during the night. That must have been the tall man he’d seen at the morning meal, sitting with the laborers engaged in repairing the roof. There was something familiar about him, but perhaps he’d seen him working the fields. A man of his height was hard to miss.
    He blinked. Cora reaction? Were the farmers spraying cora seed oil to combat spring blight? He made a note to look into it. The blight had defied all efforts to exterminate it for thousands of years. If it proved to be a bad year for the blight, the farmers would need larger stores of the oil.
    The Monral turned his mind to more immediate concerns. He wanted his engineers to work on shielding the quarters set aside for the humans. He transmitted orders to get them started.
    The shielding was in place by morning of the following day. The roof was not only repaired, but reinforced, and the reinforcement had been made to look primitive. He went up to the roof to inspect the work himself. It was clever. The difference between the repaired area and the rest of the roof could only be detected during daylight if one knew to look for it. At night, it would be invisible. He made a note to reward the laborers.
    It was time to contact the human ship.
    * * *
    The same pilot, the same rough ride, the same profuse apologies.
    “There’s just nothing I can do about this angle of descent,” the pilot said through gritted teeth as he fought the controls. “If they had a phase platform this wouldn’t be necessary.”
    Adeline tried to make light of it. The man took obvious pride in his skill and seemed mortified at the degree to which she and Smitty were being bounced and jolted.
    “I’m grateful it’s you at the helm, Commander,” she said. “A lesser pilot would have us in a spin.”
    “You should listen to Addie,” Smitty added. God bless him. “She knows what she’s talking about.”
    She flashed a smile at her husband. The tightness at the corners of the Commander’s mouth loosened a little. Yes, she did know what she was talking about. Her father was a pilot, though Smitty didn’t know that. She’d made sure he didn’t know just how humble her origins were.
    The ride smoothed. They were over Monralar and leveling out. The shuttle descended to a gentle landing on the stronghold roof. Adeline heaved a sigh of relief and grabbed her bag as the craft settled.
    “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” the commander told her as he released the hatch.
    She giggled as she followed Smitty between the two marines in the back of the shuttle.
    Marines. Her husband hadn’t been able to talk the Admiral out of it this time.  Armed marines, carrying assault rifles. What in the name of all that was holy was John thinking? Was he trying to insult the Tolari? She’d been present when