Swamped

You're going to want Dominique to take a look at the sphere, if she isn't busy with the ring. What's with these weird objects just being buried in the ground, anyhow?

When you head into her tent, you find she's got some kind of massive contraption loose this time. You can see the ring in the middle of it.

"What's going on? What is this thing?"

Dominique turns to you.

"You're back already? What happened? I have some things to tell Captain Long."

"He disappeared. So did Marshall. Got another thing for you to look at near where it happened, I didn't want to move it. It was a metal sphere buried in the ground."

"They're gone? The director will want to hear about that. And also about this ring, so you may as well come with me."

"Sure," you say. "By the way, I owe a talking lizard a meal. Do you happen to know what they eat?"

She gives you an odd look as she walks your way and slips out the door- though not the sort that suggests "do you expect me to believe a lizard talked", at least. You start following her.

"Where did you see this lizard?"

"A little outside camp."

"They don't usually come this close to us. They don't get on well with the sandy-mockers. I think it's something to do with getting confused because they both repeat noises for their calls, but animals aren't really my specialty."

"I think they were out here because of Rider," you say. "There was a group of them watching a nest, with an egg much bigger than them. Best I could tell, they were watching it while Rider rode the mother to an oasis."

"Well, we'll have to look into that too." Dominique sounds annoyed. "Bah, there's so much going on! Suspicious people sneaking around near the camp, disappearances, strange objects in the ground... And if my theory about the ring is right, we could be due for even more trouble."

"Theory?"

She looks irritated.

"I'll be explaining it to the Director. If you have some patience, you can hear it then. I'd rather not repeat myself if I don't have to."

You're a bit more concerned about whether you'll understand it. But then, you've kind of been asking a lot from her.

Anyhow, you can already see the Director's tent, so you won't have to wait that long.

Wait. Hold on. Why are there about twenty greblings gathered outside her tent? What's going on?