this place is very cold, and very flat, and has no particular distinguishing features. miles away there is smoke in the air, as from a chimney.  farther miles away there's a big soap-bubble force-field kind of thing. it looks deliberate. it rises to the same height everywhere, hard to judge from here but at least fifty feet, and there's motion faintly visible on the other side of it, hard to pick out at this distance and through the distortion, moving four and six-legged shapes.