Bob Rogers sat behind Amy, and then Glynis came in with Tim Younger. They sat next to Rogers. Jake gave them a little wave. Rogers grinned at him, Glynis waved back, and Younger simply nodded. New England stone face, Jake thought.

Precisely at eight the candidates came in, entering the planetarium from opposite doors and striding down the sloping aisles like a pair of prizefighters heading for the ring. The TV anchorwoman came in with Senator Leeds.

Tomlinson looked rested and vigorous, beaming his killer smile at the audience. Leeds smiled, too, but to Jake his face looked puffy, baggy, faint rings beneath his eyes.

Perched on her stool while the candidates stood at their lecterns, the anchorwoman smoothed her skirt and went swiftly through the preliminaries and introductions.

“Mr. Tomlinson won the coin toss,” she announced smilingly, “so he will give his opening remarks first.”

Tomlinson gave her a megawatt smile, then turned a full circle to survey the audience.

“I want to thank you all for coming,” he began. “And I want to thank Senator Leeds for graciously agreeing to this meeting.”

Leeds dipped his chin and smiled his campaign poster smile back at his rival.

Tomlinson hesitated a heartbeat, then began, “You folks—you taxpayers and voters—have to make a choice in November. You must choose between change and progress, or the same old political system of the old-boys network that has failed to move our state forward.”

Looking directly at Leeds, Tomlinson went on, “I don’t want to see this state depending entirely on gambling and highway construction for its economy. I don’t want to see our citizens’ money being funneled to Las Vegas and god knows where else. I want us to move forward, to build new industries, create thousands of new jobs, reinvigorate our mining industry, and make this state the leader in bringing energy independence to America. I want us to break the chains that link our economy to organized crime.”

They got to their feet and cheered. Jake was astounded, then realized that Amy must have learned from the first debate and packed the planetarium with Tomlinson backers.

Leeds scowled darkly at Tomlinson when it was his turn to speak.

“My opponent paints a pretty picture,” he said, “but the truth is he has nothing to offer but fantasies and wishful thinking. He talks about energy and our coal mining industry. What he doesn’t tell you is that it will take ten years, maybe twenty or even more, before his beautiful dreams can become reality. Maybe they never will.”