The View from Above

Unexpectedly, Josh heard the black knight next to him start to slide. It moved into the square just before the demifox version of Fred, playing as the queen's bishop. It did threaten the human version of Fred, but why ...

"Discovered check," noted the Doctor. A bishop had been exposed by the knight's move. The Doctor moved one square to his right. There was a flash of light, and all the members of the party were dazzled for a second as the ceiling subtly changed. It was amazing that nobody had been captured as of yet.

The queen slid into the spot to the right of the Doctor, keeping on the pressure as the Doctor remained in check. Susan wanted to make an illegal move to help the Doctor, and damned the rules of the game, but when she tried, she just could not move.

The Doctor retreated back to the only square available, to the left of the human version of Astra, and the distracting flash of light happened again. Astra steeled herself for the queen rolling into her square.

And indeed the statue slid into her, and Astra disappeared.

"Where am I?" asked Astra. She was in a darkened room, lit by some sort of "black light." She was in a chair. Now the chair was not sumptuous, with jewels and gold-thread, but it was comfortable in a practical way, well-cushioned and with firm springs. She noticed that to her right was a table, with a plain ceramic cup, a pitcher of water, and a bowl of some sort of snack. There was also a pair of opera glasses on the table. She took these and stood up, and noticed that the room had a curve to it, as if it were a circle. In fact, there seemed to a some sort of window that streched all around the circular interior wall of the room, through which she could see a relatively bright light. It was installed at a forty-five degree angle and looked down into a space below. It appeared that it was designed for observation. All around the interior wall was some padding. It appeared that one kneeled and looked down through the window to observe. She did just this, and there she could see the chess game! She was staring down at them through a window in the ceiling. This room was dark enough where those down below would not have noticed it, but she had a clear view of them - the glass acted as a one-way mirror of sorts. But why was she here? And could she get out? And if so, what lay beyond?

The game:
14 .... NxP+
15 K-KN2 Q-KR7+
16 K-KB1 QxR+ (Good-bye, Astra.)

1. Astra explores the circular room.
2. Astra continues to observe the chess game. White to move.

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