Read Ambassador 4: Coming Home for Free Online Page A

the shacks or digging machines that stood on the strip of dry land adjacent to the back walls of the yards that faced the marshlands.
    “I assume that’s it?” Kando Luczon said. He squinted into the light which was unusually bright because the sky was cloudless—almost unheard-of in Barresh.
    When we came here before, we approached the station from the marshland and had to return to the main road to access the station bridge, but since that time the council had built a flight of stairs that led directly from the bridge to a timber walkway across the marsh, from the station to the white tent.
    It was much more humid on the walkway than it had been on the platform, a reminder of the pressing heat of the monsoon that was to come.
    There was a lot of activity at the white tent. The sides were open, and I could see people walking around on platforms inside.
    We had barely covered half the distance to the tent when a couple of Barresh guards in black came in our direction.
    One man called out, “Halt. This is a restricted site. What are you doing here?”
    “I sent a message that we’d be coming.” Certainly he would know who I was.
    “I have not been informed about that. We can’t have curious folk crowd around. We need space to work.”
    I couldn’t see any curious folk other than ourselves. “Certainly you’re familiar with this man here: Captain Kando Luczon of the Aghyrians. He is coming to have a look at the ship that carried his fellows here.”
    “Can I see your ID?” His face remained impassive.
    I pulled out my pass, puzzled by this state of affairs. He took it from me and ran his scanner over it. He looked from the screen to my face and back again. His brown eyes were the only thing that moved. He was keihu, of the body type that was solid and short, with a course face. His nose had the characteristic longitudinal groove in the middle.
    “Hmm.” Then he held his hand out for Kando Luczon’s pass.
    The captain gave the pass he had received yesterday, frowning. The guard ran the scanner over that, too. His face remained unemotional as he gave both passes back.
    I expected to be let through now, but he asked, “Do you have a permit to enter the site?”
    “Well, nobody told me that we needed—”
    “I need to see a permit.”
    “When did that come into force?”
    “Since the dig started. We can’t have sightseers trampling the site.”
    “That’s all very well, but have you seen who this man is?”
    The guard glanced at Kando Luczon, who glared back. To his credit, the guard didn’t seem to be impressed by the captain’s death stare. “Look, I don’t really care who he is.  He could be Asto’s Chief Coordinator for all I know. I have orders, I’m afraid.”
    “Can I talk to your superior?”
    “They’re all at lunch.”
    That was Barresh in a nutshell. Anything important to be discussed? Everyone was at lunch. Not to mention that it was so late that lunch was in danger of bleeding into dinner. “When are they due back?”
    He shrugged. “After lunch, I guess.”
    Ha, ha, ha.
    “What’s going on?” Kando Luczon asked. He had not yet developed the ability to understand keihu, but considering the Aghyrian aptitude for languages, I didn’t expect that to take very long. Keihu was not a terribly complicated language either.
    I translated for him. “He says we can’t get in because we don’t have permission.”
    “We don’t need permission. I give permission. This is my ship.” He pushed past the astonished guard and strode in large steps in the direction of the white tent.
    “Hey, hey, sir.” The guard ran after him, yelling in Coldi. “You can’t just—”
    “Yes I can. This is my ship.”
    Kando Luczon’s legs were much longer than the guard’s.
    The guard had stopped his pursuit and was on his comm. A couple of men in council black came out of the tent. Guards, with guns clearly displayed on their belts. They blocked Kando Luczon’s path. Even without the long white