This sounds like a people problem, not a technical problem.

Did someone actually tell you that you had to read an Access file from a Linux box? Or is it possible that you took an incomplete problem statement at face value, without considering the option of treating it as an openning bid in a negotiation? (One of life's little secrets, that.)

Assuming nobody comes through with some magic way to read Access files on a non MS platform, your best bet may be to push the problem upstream, and demand flatfiles instead of Access files. Someone, somewhere has access to Access. They must, or you wouldn't be getting Access files. Make the conversion their problem.