Swamped

"I think that's about all. But there's something you should be aware of."

"What's that, Director?"

"There's been a strange phenomenon going on recently where creatures and objects have been transported from the desert to the swamp, and vice versa. We'll cover it in more detail at the next staff meeting; I'm in a hurry right now, unfortunately."

"Transported? How?" Harbottle asks. Their eyes light up.

"We've got no idea how it works. Theo's got most of our data, I can have him send it to you, but I doubt it'll be illuminating. It's probably magical, though we haven't tried actually checking for ether readings."

"Please, I'd love to read it. Instant transportation over such a long distance... If we could understand how it works, imagine what we could learn about the stars!"

You get the sense Harbottle has thought about this sort of thing fairly often.

"I can't promise it will help with that, but I'll talk to Theo."

"Thank you, Director. It's always a pleasure to have visitors."

As you step out, you decide to give Rudolph more than a passing wave. If only to avoid facing Dominique right away.

"Hello, Rudolph," you say. "Any unusual sights?"

"Aside from you popping out of a wagon with six humans?" Rudolph smirks. "Not really. That must be quite the story."

"Haven't got time for it now, I'm afraid." Even if it would be a good stall. "For one thing, I'm trying to find Simone. I sent Gascoign to look for her at the junkyard, because that's the only lead I've got. Did you spot her, by any chance?"

Rudolph shakes his head.

"Didn't see any of the vehicles heading there, other than Gascoign's old wagon a few minutes ago. Though at that distance, it's hard for me to spot someone on foot."

"Our human guests have a set of long goggles for seeing faraway distances," you say. "I'll see if we can take a look at them and make a pair for you."

"I'd appreciate it. My eyes are good, but not that good. Seems strange that Simone would go on foot, though - that's a long walk."

It is, at that. You're starting to get worried again.

"Can you see the actual junkyard?"

"Yeah, but not in any real detail. Maybe not even with those fancy goggles, depending on how well they work. I mean, if you think there's something that might be big enough for me to notice from here, I can take a look, but I doubt there's anything that conspicuous."

You give the matter some thought.