Death Star I
by Valerie Vancollie
"Chewie, get back," Han ordered as he raised his stolen blaster at the hatch and fired.
The blaster bolt hit the hatch and, to Han's astonishment, bounced off. Instantly Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewie all dived into the garbage for cover. The blaster bolt bounced around the garbage compactor for a few seconds before it disappeared into the garbage.
"Put that thing away before you get us all killed!" Leia ordered getting up from the garbage.
Luke opened his mouth to add something to the Princess's remark but Solo began talking before he could:
"Yes your worship," he said sarcastically. "It won't take them long to figure out what happened to us. I had everything under control until you lead us down here!"
"It could be worse," Leia replied brushing garbage from her white dress.
Suddenly, before either Luke or Han could reply, there came a low, unhuman, moan from somewhere under the garbage. Luke immediately began looking around while Han turned to face Alderaan's Princess.
"It's worse," he stated almost triumphantly.
Suddenly Luke jumped and turned around, looking around wildly.
"What?!" Leia demanded seeing the panicked look on his young, boyish, face.
"Something just moved past me," Luke replied, his voice a scared whisper. "It brushed against my leg!"
"That's just your imagination," Han replied nervously.
Just as Han said this a single eye belonging to some unknown creature popped up from beneath the garbage. It quickly looked around before it disappeared back beneath the garbage.
"There!" Luke exclaimed pointing to where the eye had just been. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Leia asked doubtfully.
"An eye," Luke replied looking around him and shifting his blaster. "A single eye."
"An eye?" Han repeated, perhaps the kid was crazier then he had thought.
"Yes," Luke repeated, not hearing the doubt in the older man's voice. "We'd better be careful, we don't know what it might belo-"
With shocking suddenness Luke disappeared straight down into the garbage.
"Luke!" Leia cried out, stunned.
"Kid!" Han exclaimed as he move to the spot where Luke had stood just a few minutes earlier. "Kid!"
Feeling around in the muck Han tried frantically to find the missing farmboy. He was just about to comment that Luke wouldn't be able to hold his breath much longer when Luke suddenly appeared again, a thick tentacle wrapped tightly around his throat.
"Luke!" Leia exclaimed as she picked up a pole from in the garbage and moved it towards him. "Grab this!"
Luke made a move to grab the pole, but it was too short.
"Blast it!" Luke gasped frantically as he fought to keep his balance. "Blast it, will you! My blaster's stuck."
"Where?" Han asked as he brought up his blaster.
"Anywhere!" Luke cried out just before he was once again pulled under.
"Luke!" Han and Leia exclaimed at the same time.
Luke struggled against the grip of the monster's tentacle around his throat as he trashed wildly in the muck. However, no matter what he did, the tentacle didn't loosen its grip, instead it seemed to tighten even more around his throat until Luke passed out from lack of air.
* * *
Walking back to where he had left Luke and the others Obi-Wan Kenobi froze in his tracks as he felt a disturbance in the Force. Quickly he reached out with his mind, despite the danger, and searched for Luke's mind. He felt his heart freeze when he couldn't find it. Somehow Luke had died, and with him had died the last hope for the galaxy, the last hope for freedom.
* * *
Looking around the garbage Han finally gave up, a lump forming in his throat.
"He's dead," Han whispered quietly. "No one can go without air that long."
Leia just shook her head in denial, not wanting to believe the pirate, but knowing that what he said was true.
"What do you think that was?" she finally asked looking over at the Wookiee who had watched the whole scene in silence.
"I have no idea," Han replied honestly. "But it's not important right now, we have to get out of here before it decides that Luke wasn't enough."
Leia was about to respond when, with a sudden shudder, two of the four walls started moving forward.
"What the....?" Han explained before he cursed and looked around for any way out.
"Brace the walls with these metal poles," Leia ordered as she picked up one of the poles and held it up vertically, hoping that it was strong enough to stop the forward motion of the walls.
Han instantly followed her example while Chewie pushed against one of the walls with all of his awesome Wookiee strength. Leia's hopes rose slightly when the walls seemed to stop as they came into contact with the poles she and Han were holding up, but her hope quickly faded as both poles shuddered and snapped as the pressure of the walls increased.
"Great," Han murmured. "Any other brilliant ideas you Holiness?"
"I haven't heard you give any ideas," Leia countered.
"We wouldn't be here if it weren't for your stupidity!" Han retorted as he looked around for a way, any way, to stop the walls.
"No we wouldn't," Leia agreed. "We'd be sitting in detention cells being interrogated."
"I wouldn't," Han shot back.
"Right," Leia agreed. "They'd have killed you already."
Han opened his mouth to reply when Chewie roared a question at him.
"Of coarse," Han replied. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Think of what?" Leia asked as she watched the walls come closer.
"The droids!" Han replied looking at her. "The droids could order the computer to stop the walls!"
"That would work," Leia stated. "But didn't Luke have the comlink? Or do you have another?"
Seeing the hope fade from the pirate's face told Leia that he didn't have another comlink.
"Well I guess this is it then," Leia stated as the walls came so close that she could touch both of them if she stretched out her arms.
"There's got to be a way out of this!" Han said looking around, half expecting to see a hidden door appear out of nowhere.
If only he hadn't accepted this job, then he'd still be on Tatooine in the bar instead of here in this stinking garbage compactor. The last thing Han saw before the walls crushed him was Chewie's desperate blue eyes and for some reason they reminded him of Luke's eyes just before he had been pulled under the garbage for the last time.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail me at valeriev84@hotmail.com
April 1999
