The next morning, Kayla was greedily slurping from a double-walled metal tumbler as she and Buster walked out the front door of Zed Steadman. In college she almost always slept in until noon. Her rest on the streets of Big Zig had been fitful and inconsistent. Now she was getting up when the night lights were still on and the streets were quiet. She was glad she felt confident and had a plan, because she didn't know if she could do this while still carrying the fear she had felt earlier. This was a longshot, a gamble, but it was something to focus on other than despair.
Buster wasn't wearing his usual outfit. He was wearing a snug pink athletic shirt tucked in to light purple running shorts. Instead of combat boots, his large lower paws were cradled in an even larger pair of pink polymer clogs.
"This is how I normally dress now, it's a very active job. I only wear the scrubs and the boots when I need to be recognized or for photos." he said, almost defensively.
Kayla didn't say anything, but she felt very cool in her poncho and brimmed hat.
The panda was holding a printout that Petro had made. It was the same map that Kayla had used to find Zed Steadman, but this one had been printed with a route that circled Big Zig. They had a plan, and they had one day to convince as many people as they could to participate. She was nervous at the thought of asking complete strangers to risk their lives for her; She could only imagine how Buster must feel having to face down his Buddies after months of absence.
"Buka is coming tomorrow so I just don't have time to plan out individual approaches for each person. We're going to have to wing it, hit as many people as we can and just hope the numbers shake out. I have faith in you, if I'm struggling or losing them then feel free to improvise. Even if they don't like me, a lost youth trying to return to their star-crossed lover is pretty hard to say no to." he said.
"We'll see." she said, "I don't think Alia would appreciate me using her as a prop like that, but I talked things over with her last night and she supports us. She's holding off on chartering a spaceflight until after she hears back from me. Just in case." she paused, realizing how heavy the thought was only after she had voiced it.
"I'm glad. It really sucks to go through all this and a breakup at the same time." Buster embarrassed himself in turn as they set off.
Big Zig didn't have zoning or districts, so they just walked from one place to the next going down the checklist. So many people, and they had to ask each of them a very awkward question: Are you willing to risk your life to save a complete stranger? If not, would spiting your worst enemy sweeten the deal at all? How about staving off the collapse of the city you live in, if only for a few more years?
If worst came about and they couldn't get help, Buster had enough savings to hire a few bodyguards. For a lot of reasons, he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
He didn't have to hope for long.
The first was the hardest. He had to brace himself before going in. Usually he would push past the introductions, explaining that there would be time to catch up later. A few times Kayla found herself awkwardly witnessing an emotional confrontation and having to intervene when the shouting started. She saw why Buster wanted her with him, he needed someone to keep an eye on him as much as he needed her there to sell it. He was out of his comfort zone, and this wasn't easy for him.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Not all of them were bad. A lot of them were just worried about him.
He had passively and euphemistically mentioned a disagreement of some kind. The picture that emerged sounded more like he had had a public meltdown at a meeting and then ghosted everyone. A few of them even tried to check in on him and been rebuked in incredibly mean fashion. Apparently this wasn't even the first time it had happened. Most of them made it clear that they understood he had problems and they were trying to be patient but he couldn't keep acting like this. He agreed as much.
A few of them made it very clear that they had had enough, and weren't interested in any of Buster's schemes going forward. He hurried out the door about as quickly as possible afterwards, but made sure that they knew he would still help if they ever needed it.
A lot of the residents of Big Zig that they approached accepted the pitch on the spot. Nobody who ended up on Redtree had an easy life or much love for Nakuna, and most of them were used to fighting.
Some pushed back. While Buster wouldn't budge on the core of the plan, the details shifted and changed throughout the day: the sharpshooters picked out better vantage points, the tailor picked out better clothes. Lookouts were replaced by the noise musician's network of environmental recording microphones so they could have more boots on the ground.
When people politely refused, he worked them down. If being in the line of fire was too dangerous, could they handle idling nearby in their lumber truck just in case? If they had to work at the spaceport that morning, could they at least keep an eye out for Buka's ship and let him know when it arrived? If they thought he was going to fail, would they be willing to be there to give aid to the survivors? Not trying to paint them into a corner, simply making sure that they knew there were still ways they could help if they really wanted to. Many people did.
The time limit was a blessing. They simply didn't have the time to argue. When it became clear someone wouldn't budge, they thanked them for their time and moved on. Tell your friends to stay way from Zed Steadman tomorrow, we should be back to normal after that if it's still standing.
The night lights were back on by the time they returned to Zed Steadman. Just like when they had left.
They had been on their feet all day, walking and talking. They were tired. But they were exhilarated.
"For someone this city hates, you sure seem to have a lot of friends." Kayla said.
Buster grinned sheepishly. "We only visited the people I thought we had a good chance with. There's a reason we had to duck into back alleys a few times, there are people I have to avoid if I don't want to cause a scene. Besides, you did a lot of the heavy lifting."
"Still, I feel good about tomorrow. Thank you, Buster." she reached up and tipped her hat to him, her blonde hair matted to her head after a long day
"No, thank you Kayla. If you hadn't come along, I probably wouldn't have gotten back in touch with these people for a long time. If ever. You just saved a few friendships today." he reached up and pantomimed tipping a hat in turn before continuing.
"Now, I need to take care of Petro and get him ready for bed. I'm not giving you tranquilizers because you need to be alert tomorrow, but if you can't sleep I have some gentle stimulants you're welcome to in the morning. If you need someone to talk to and Alia isn't there, wake me up. Otherwise, you know the deal." Buster said as he turned to go up the stairs.
Kayla just nodded and watched him go. Petro was a very lucky man to have someone so dedicated.