Invisible Smoke ➵ l.s. (editing)

THREE ☾

Elara didn't scream when she fell. The impact drove the breath out of her lungs. The stench hit next—mold, metal, rot—rising in a cloud of foul mist as she landed in a slosh of frigid water and debris. She pushed up on her hands, blinking grime from her eyes, and tried not to gag as something unidentifiable and wet mushed under her fingers.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she noticed a small hatchway embedded in one of the walls — a door. Wading through the knee-deep garbage, Elara reached it and gave the door a shove. It didn't budge. She gritted her teeth and tried again, jamming her fingers under the edge and pulling on it with her full weight. Nothing. It was sealed tight.

A loud thud from above startled her, and she jumped backward as Luke came crashing down through the chute, landing hard in the slop beside her. He winced as he struggled to his feet amidst the garbage.

Without a word, he spotted the same hatch Elara had just been wrestling with. He grabbed a bent metal rod from the heap beside him and tried to pry it open.

"Magnetically sealed," he muttered, frowning down at the useless tool in his hand. "Of course it's magnetically sealed."

That meant no one inside could open it. And no one on the outside had any reason to try.

"I couldn't get it either."

A loud thud overhead signaled more company. Chewbacca came crashing down into the garbage with a startled howl, followed immediately by Han, who yelped and landed face-first in something that sloshed under him.

"Oh! The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea," Han bit out as he sat up, scowling in Leia's direction. "What an incredible smell you've discovered! Let's get out of here! Get away from there..."

"No! Wait!" Luke called, but it was too late.

Han drew his blaster and fired at the hatch. The laser bolt ricocheted violently across the compact metal walls. Elara ducked as it sparked just above her. Luke instinctively shifted, stepping in front, shielding her as they both crouched behind a half-submerged pile of junk.

The bolt finally exploded overhead in a flash of searing light.

"Will you forget it? I already tried it," Luke snapped, clearly rattled. "It's magnetically sealed!"

"Put that thing away! You're going to get us all killed," Leia snapped.

"Absolutely, Your Worship," Han muttered. "Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here. You know, it's not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us."

"You call that under control," Elara scoffed.

"It could be worse," Leia said, glaring in Han's direction.

Just then, a deep, guttural moan echoed through the waterlogged room.

"It's worse," Han said flatly, his blaster raised. Chewbacca howled in alarm, backing himself into the wall as something rippled beneath the surface.

Elara felt it a moment later—a slick, slimy brush against her ankle. She stilled, eyes wide, trying to make out what had just touched her, but the water was too dirty. Her pulse jumped. "Luke," she said lowly, grabbing onto his arm, "did you—"

"There's something alive in here!" Luke yelled, swinging his blaster around.

"That's your imagination," Han dismissed.

"It just moved past my leg! Look! Did you see that?"

"What?"

"Help!" Luke's cry was swallowed by a splash as something dragged him under, violently, by his leg.

"Luke!" Han lunged into the water, shoving aside debris. Elara moved with him, her eyes scanning frantically for movement.

Luke surfaced near Han, gasping, fighting against a grimy tentacle wrapped around his neck. "Blast it, will you! My gun's jammed!"

"Where?"

"Anywhere!"

Han fired. The blast sizzled and hit the water—but instead of releasing Luke, the creature only constricted tighter around his throat and yanked him under with a splash.

"Luke! Luke!"

Elara froze. The water stilled. He was gone?

Then came a low groan from the walls, followed by a deathly silence.

With a violent surge, Luke erupted from the water, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

"Grab him!" Leia called out to Han.

"What happened?" she asked as Han pulled him back onto a pile of scrap.

"I don't know," Luke panted. "It just let go of me and disappeared..."

"I've got a very bad feeling about this," Han muttered.

The walls rumbled again—this time with purpose.

"The walls are moving!" Luke shouted.

"Don't just stand there. Try to brace it with something," Leia commanded.

They all scrambled. Elara grabbed a pole and jammed it between the walls, but it bent almost instantly under the force. Han cursed. Leia tried another beam, only for it to snap with a hollow clang.

Elara slipped on the slick trash, grabbing hold of the compactor wall to steady herself. Her legs burned with the effort to brace it, and still it pushed closer.

Luke dove for his comlink, shouting over the creaking metal. "Wait a minute! Threepio! Come in Threepio! Threepio! Where could he be?"

Leia was sinking again, struggling to stay above the trash. Han attempted to push her upwards. "Get to the top!"

"I can't!"

"One thing's for sure, we're gonna be a lot thinner!"

Elara hauled herself up a heap of junk and slumped against the compactor wall, heart pounding. She didn't want to die in here. Not like this. The walls were only getting closer, and there was nothing left long enough to try and stop them.

She closed her eyes and waited.

"Threepio, will you shut up and listen to me?" Luke shouted. "Shut down all garbage mashers on the detention level! Shut down all garbage mashers on the detention level!"

The walls were so close now that Elara could feel the heat radiating off the friction, smell the metal grinding against metal.

And then—nothing.

A loud, final groan... and the walls stopped.

a/n
new and improved chapter 3. updated 7/19/25.