Retief of the Red-Tape Mountain

A resourceful vice-consul is dispatched under sealed orders to mediate escalating tensions between a handful of Terrestrial settlers and an intelligent indigenous species on a harsh desert world. After a hazardous descent and crash landing, he contends with armed skirmishes, wary colonists, and the improvisations of frontier life. At the same time he must reconcile rigid, distant bureaucracy with on-the-ground realities, forcing practical problem-solving. The narrative blends action and satire, following one envoy's efforts to overcome procedural absurdities and achieve a workable diplomatic settlement.