The Doctor gleefully rubbed his hands together, while Jamie stared intently at the wooden board between Victoria and himself.
They were playing a game of chess together, with the Doctor supervising to ensure the rules were being followed, and to act as a timer since, according to the Doctor, the one thing the TARDIS oddly didn't possess was a clock.
The only problem with the Doctor refereeing their match was that he had already worked out strategies for both players in his head, and was doing everything in his power not to blurt them out and ruin the game.
What made it even worse was that Jamie kept forgetting the rules of the game, and often tried to move a Pawn in an L-Shape, only to be scolded by the Doctor for making such a clumsy mistake again.
Jamie kept staring at the board, trying to make sense of the game. He wasn't playing to win, he was doing his best to remember all the rules the Doctor had rattled off to him in a five minute lecture, and trying to look like he was concentrating on the game.
In reality, he was simply playing for time for as long as he could.
Jamie reached out, and picked up a pawn, and moved it five spaces forwards, to take Victoria's king.
"No, no, Jamie, that's an illegal move." The Doctor said.
Jamie silently moved the pawn back to its original place, and put it down, only for the Doctor to pipe up again.
"Ah-ah-ah!" The Doctor yelped, almost happy that it gave him a chance to talk even more. "Once you've picked up a piece, you must move it!"
"But I don't know where tae put it, Doctor!" Jamie protested.
"Then strategize before you make a move, Jamie!" He replied grumpily.
"Can't ye give me a bit of a hand, Doctor?" Jamie pleaded, the pawn still in his hand.
"If I did I'd hardly be a fair referee, now would I?" He asked rhetorically. Jamie sighed, and began scanning the board for any possible moves, the pawn still in his hand.
The Doctor, feeling sorry for the lad, turned to look at the console, which was rising and falling in a smooth, steady rhythm.
"I say, Victoria," He said, getting the young lady's attention. As soon as he had looked away from the game, the Doctor tapped square C5.
"Doesn't that look awfully like… oh, you know…" The Doctor said, snapping his fingers. "What are those things called again?"
"What do you mean, Doctor?" Victoria asked, her concentration fully on the Doctor now.
"Oh, nothing, I've completely forgotten. It'll come to me later, I'm sure." He said, turning back to the game. "Now, Jamie, are you ready to make your move at last?" He asked, with a slight smirk. Jamie smiled confidently, and placed his pawn down on square C5.
"Yes, I am." He said, smiling.
His smile soon faded however, as Victoria, smiling herself, picked up her rook, and moved it forwards two spaces.
"Check mate." She stated.
"Check mate!" The Doctor echoed happily.
"What?! But… what?!" Jamie gasped, unable to believe what had happened. He turned to the Doctor, anger etched on his face. "Doctor, why did you tell me to move to C5?!"
"Because you shouldn't cheat, Jamie! Perhaps that'll be a lesson to you!" He said, walking over to the console, now that the game had finished.
Jamie just sat at the board, flabbergasted and angry.
"Doctor, that was a very mean trick on the both of us!" Victoria stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It was indeed, but perhaps you've both learned something!" He said, grinning at them. "Jamie has learned not to cheat, and Victoria has learned not to lose focus in the middle of something important."
Just as Victoria and Jamie were about to complain, there was a quiet dinging coming from the console. The Doctor turned and walked around to where the sound was coming from.
"Ah, that's new!" The Doctor cried, looking giddily at the scanner.
Jamie and Victoria turned and looked at the scanner too, seeing a strange, almost lumpy planet, rotating slowly in the otherwise empty blackness of outer space.
"What is it, Doctor? Some kind of ship?" Jamie asked.
"I don't think so, Jamie. It seems to be a planet of some sorts, although certainly an artificial one. But as to its name or origin… I can't make a head or tail out of it." The Doctor replied.
Without waiting for any other conversation to begin, the Doctor began the landing protocols for the TARDIS, as it drew closer to the slowly turning planet.
* * *
On the planet's surface, several deformed, mutated creatures looked up at the blue box which was slowly orbiting the planet. They all raised their heads, or what they could consider their head, and made various howling, screeching, cawing noises…