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“It reat idea, but I don’t think it is, for the sarader to stand up and say that he’s learned enough, he’s done with school, thanks a lot but he’s got it froarten, and like any good teacher, I don’t believe He intends to let us out of class just because we’re finding the lessons a little difficult I don’t knohether I believe in the Rapture or not I believe that if God wants to do it, He will but I don’t believe that it’s coht here”

Ms Greeley looked at hi moment, lips still pressed into a thin line Then, so slow that it was al man,” she said

Those four words couldn’t have been sweeter if they’d been backed by the hallelujah choir

“Internet share just ju her head Her eyes were very wide “Georgia, we’re getting a top-three feed”

“Ladies and gentle back in ot ourselves a presidential candidate”

Top-three feed The words were, if you’ll pardon the cliché, es and readership shares is complicated It all comes down to server traffic There are thousands ofthe flow of data, then reporting back which sites are getting the most access requests fro the biggest nus, and those are what the advertisers and financial backers base their invest h pn

The rest of the question-and-answer period was pretty standard stuff, with a few hardballs thrown in just to keep things interesting Where did the senator stand on the death penalty? Given that et up and try to eat folks, he didn’t see it as a productive pursuit What was his opinion on public health care? Failure to keep people healthy enough to stay alive bordered on cries of disaster preparedness? After the o, he couldn’t i without ie, religious freedoer possible to pretend that any part of the hu to politely lie down and disappear just because the iven further the proof that life is a short and fragile thing, he didn’t see the point of rendering anyone less free and equal than anybody else When we got to the afterlife, God could sort us out into the sinner and the saved Until we got there, it seehbors and reserving our ments for ourselves

After an hour and a half of questions, n first—the senator stood, wiping his forehead with the handkerchief he’d produced from a back pocket “Well, folks,on late, andoff these evening discussions, I’ in the hter; soed to ease the audience out of their fear and into the sort of calm most people don’t experience outside of their ho me, and for all your questions and viewpoints I sincerely hope I’ll have your vote when the time comes, but even if I don’t, I have faith that it will be because you reat land”

“We’re following you, Peter!” shouted someone from the back of the roo that the shouter wasn’t son; it was a wo up a hand-painted Senator Ryroupies,” observed Shaun

“Always a good sign,” said Buffy

The senator laughed “I certainly hope that you are,” he said “You’ll have the chance to h In theto the audience, he turned and walked off the stage as “The Star-Spangled Banner” began to play from speakers around the rooh audience for that—but it was enthusiastic More so than it had been at the last engagement, and that one had been more enthusiastic than the one before it, and so on, and so on Maybe you couldn’t tell by looking at it, but the ca the audience as they rose, and, surprisingly, began to talk a the hall for the safety of their cars That was a new develop Face-to-face, real-tis he had said

More anda president

“Georgia?” said Buffy

“Go ahead and check the backstage feeds,” I said, and nodded toward the knot of chattering attendees “I’o see what the buzz is”

“Make sure you’re recording,” she said, and started for the stage, gesturing for Shaun to follow Grued his chain roup of attendees A few of thelanced over at my approach, took note ofThe news is either invisible or so on and how many cameras the people around you can see Since I didn’t have any visible recording equipment, I was just part of the scenery