Chapter 1 We are introduced to several of the major characters and the setting of Randy Bragg’s town, Fort Repose, Florida. Randy’s ancestor was a U. S. Navy lieutenant who was assigned in the 1830s to establish control over this part of Florida to protect U.S. troop movements along the coast. From his ancestor’s log house, the town of Fort Repose developed. Randy lives on his share of the proceeds of a trust his father established (Randy’s father was the town Judge) and on the proceeds from his family’s orange tree groves. Randy isn’t a rich man, but the trust, and income from the oranges, provide him with a comfortable income. Randy’s house is much larger than a bachelor needs, so most of it is unused. Not having the need for a job, Randy is able to spend many of his mornings “bird-watching.”

Chapter 1 Randy receives a telegram from his brother, Mark, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Mark says he will be at a nearby military base and wants to talk to Randy. He indicates in his telegram that he is sending his wife and children to stay with Randy, and ends the telegram with “Alas, Babylon.” This phrase comes from the Bible, and Randy remembers it from the Preacher’s sermons when Randy and Mark, the Bragg brothers, were little boys. They adopted the phrase as their private code meaning disaster or catastrophe, or just bad luck. Randy recalls meeting with Mark the previous year, with Mark telling him about the rapidly deteriorating world situation and what it could mean for the U.S. In the event of imminent war, Mark would not be able to tell Randy directly, but would signal him with the phrase “Alas, Babylon.” Mark, being an intelligence officer in the military and attached to the Strategic Air Command (SAC), was in a position to know what was really occurring in U.S.-Soviet relations and developments in the Soviet military. Upon receiving the telegram, Randy understands its meaning – that war is imminent - and he knows he must prepare for the arrival of Mark’s family, as well as be ready to meet Mark on his stop-over.

Chapter 1 *bottom of page 6 ("Randy watched Florence's...") to top of page 9 ("I believe in the Constitution of the United Stated - all of it.")

“Alas, Babylon was a private, a family signal” – pg. 14 “…their private synonym for disaster, real or comic, past or future” – pg. 15 “But in this telegram it had a very special and exact meaning.” – pg. 15 Chapter 1 *middle of page 12 ("Now the Bragg holdings..." to the top of page 15 ("Just one hour Alas, Babylon!")

Chapter 2 The scene is set for the impending war. Randy Bragg leaves to meet his brother, Mark, at the nearby McCoy Air Force Base in Orlando. As he drives from Fort Repose to Orlando, he listens to the news reports on the radio. The Middle East is buzzing with activities and Russia is rattling its sabers at the United States. Randy has heard of problems in the Middle East before, but has not paid much attention to news reports before. In light of Mark’s “Alas, Babylon” warning, the news reports are ominous. Florence Wechek (Randy’s nosey neighbor who runs the telegraph office – Western Union), and Alice Cooksey (Florence’s friend and the town librarian) meet for their weekly lunch. Alice tells Florence about an incident she had with Kitty Offenhaus, the wife of a prominent local businessman. Kitty, a member of the “Daughters of the Confederacy”, wanted some books removed from the library, books she considered subversive and anti-South. Alice refuses to remove the books. When Kitty threatens to bring up the issue with the county government (who controls Alice’s budget), Alice retaliates by threatening to call the media to report on Kitty’s actions. Kitty, realizing she has lost the battle, leaves “in a huff.” Kitty understands that the negative publicity would hurt her husband’s business interests.

Chapter 2 Florence then tells Alice about Mark’s telegram, which she has read. She thinks it is odd that Randy’s brother, Mark, would send his wife and children to Fort Repose before school was out. And in the telegram, what was that final comment, “Alas, Babylon,” about? Florence, who does not think much of the Bragg brothers, thinks both the brothers are a little odd. Alice, however, knows them both much better than Florence and realizes that something important is being communicated in that cryptic phrase. After lunch, she returns to the library and looks up the phrase in the Bible. The phrase, from the Revelation to St. John, refers to the destruction of the cities at the “end of time.” Her job as a librarian, and her inquisitive nature, has made her much more aware of world events; she suddenly realizes that nuclear war (and its consequences) is at hand..

Chapter 2 Randy arrives at the base in Orlando, and is sent through to meet his brother. On his way to Base Operations Randy notices the changes at the base: there are fewer planes on the runways; there are fewer men on base; civilians (non- military workers) are gone; and there is a general feeling of tension in the air. Randy’s escort, Paul Hart, a squadron commander, tells him about the “interim dispersal” of the aircraft and the quiet evacuation of civilians and non- essential personnel from the base. Mark arrives by plane, and he greets Randy. Mark’s plane is on its way to SAC headquarters outside Omaha and is stopping at McCoy to refuel. In the short time Randy has with him, Mark tells Randy about the travel arrangements for his family. He tells Randy about events in the Mediterranean and that a defecting Soviet general revealed the Soviet war plan to the Americans. He gives Randy a check for $5,000 (a huge sum of money in the 1950s) with instructions to cash it immediately and buy supplies.

$5,000 Take care of Helen, Benjamin Franklin (13), and Peyton (11)! *top of page 34 ("Four subs is a lot of subs...") to the bottom of page 37

 Randy arrives at McCoy Air Force Base. It’s almost totally deserted.  “Some buggy you got here. Won’t be worth a ‘darn’ to you” – pg. 30  Randy’s brother Mark says that there are 4 Soviet subs close to the U.S.. That’s a lot when there shouldn’t be any.  Mark gives Randy a $5000 check. “Cash it, today if you can…”  Brothers say goodbye and Randy is told to take care of Helen, Ben Franklin, and Peyton  “He knew he should not have spared time for tears and would not, ever again.” – pg. 37  Already Randy’s character is changing.

Chapter 3 We meet Edgar Quisenberry, the president of the local bank. Edgar acts as if the bank was his own personal kingdom and we meet him because Randy has to cash Mark’s out-of-town check. Edgar has little regard for the Bragg family - Randy’s father had kicked Edgar out of a poker game long ago when Edgar looked at Judge Bragg’s cards; Randy’s brother, Mark, infuriated Edgar since he always referred to Edgar by his school nickname (“Fisheye”); and Edgar considered Randy to be just plain lazy. Edgar knows Mark’s check is good, but he delays giving Randy his money, just to annoy him. Cash in hand, Randy goes to the local supermarket and buys over $300 of groceries - an astronomical amount in the 1950s. He also stops at a local bar and buys a stock of whiskey and scotch. Randy wants to tell the bar owner to be ready for the coming war, but the man has a reputation for lying and his lies could spark a riot. Once home with his groceries, Randy has Malachi Henry help unload the groceries. (Malachi is a black man, who is the preacher’s son, and lives next door to Randy on the Henry family’s farm.) Malachi makes a little money from Randy by taking care of the yard work and doing odd jobs. Randy tells Malachi about the coming war and is surprised to find that Malachi is not as ignorant of world events as Randy believed. Randy has trouble talking to him as if Malachi were an equal. Still, the Henry family has the one thing Randy has not thought of yet - running water. Long ago, Randy’s grandfather drilled an artesian well to water the orange groves and allowed the Henry’s to tap into it. The water smelled of sulfur but it was drinkable and would not be contaminated by the fallout from nuclear weapons.

Chapter 3 As Malachi leaves, we meet Elizabeth ( Lib) McGovern, Randy’s latest love interest and girlfriend. She has come by the house to convince Randy that he needs to get a real job in a city - she thinks he is turning into a vegetable living in the country. Only yesterday, Randy would have seriously considered this idea but now, in the light of Mark’s warning, he knows the cities will soon be death traps. He decides he needs to tell her about Mark’s warning. But, before he can, Dr. Gunn (the local doctor and Randy’s best friend) arrives to discuss with Lib about her father and mother, who are both ill. We learn about Dr. Gunn’s background - he was an doctor who wanted to help those suffering from deadly diseases, but the financial burdens of a divorce trapped him into a life of delivering the babies of the locals and treating their minor problems. Dr. Gunn has just visited the McGovern’s - Lib’s mother, a diabetic, wanted to change her prescription and her father was slowly dying from nothing to do. Randy then tells Lib and Dr. Gunn about Mark’s warning of the coming war. Dr. Gunn believes Randy and gives Randy and Lib a number of prescriptions to fill, just in case. This chapter ends by switching scenes from Fort Repose to a Navy Task Group in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ships are in an area where it is difficult to maneuver and an unidentified aircraft is following them.

 Randy’s shopping trip!  Randy and Malachi’s conversation – artesian water well (sulphur water); can’t be contaminated by radiation or fallout!  “More important than anything he had listed was water, free of dangerous bacilli, unpolluted by poisons human, chemical, or radioactive. Pure water was essential to his civilization.” – pg. 51 *top of page 42 ("Randy walked into the bank's office...") to the bottom of page 43 ("Good afternoon, Fish-eye") *top of page 44 ("Randy's first stop was Ajax...") to near the bottom of page 45 ("They would be certain he was mad." *top of page 49 ("'Malachai,' Randy said, 'I want to ask you a serious question.'") to the middle of page 50 ("But that sulphur water ain't bad. You gets to like it.")

Henry Family (Randy’s Neighbors) Randy’s maid Randy’s childhood friend; works on Randy’s orchard now

Chapter 4 Chapter 4 is primarily concerned with the military actions, both Soviet and American, that lead to war. The departure of Mark Bragg’s family from Omaha and their arrival in Fort Repose is set against this backdrop. The chapter opens with Mark’s family, Helen Bragg and the children, leaving Omaha by plane for Orlando. Randy Bragg, in Fort Repose, wakes up to go to Orlando to pick up Helen and the children. As he gets ready to go to the airport, he considers many of the things he has yet to do (stock up on gas and oil, fill Dr. Gunn’s prescriptions, etc.), as well as considering things he had not yet thought of (candles, flashlights, batteries, etc.). As he leaves the house, he stops by the home of Bill and Lavonia McGovern (his girlfriend’s parent’s house), where Randy tells them of the coming war. Lavonia, Lib’s mother (who does not like Randy), does not want to even think about the possibility of war - she remembers the previous war, and that is just too disruptive to her comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Meanwhile, events in the Eastern Mediterranean go from bad to worse. Ensign James Cobb defies standing orders and chases a Soviet fighter jet into Syrian airspace. He launches an air-to-air missile to bring it down, but the missile goes astray and strikes Soviet naval facilities in the port city of Latakia. The missile sets off a chain reaction of explosions and destroys much of the port.

Chapter 4 After picking up Mark’s family from Orlando and on the way home to Fort Repose, Randy and Helen hear the news from the Middle East. They realize its importance and that war is imminent. The scene switches to SAC headquarters. Mark is reading the latest intelligence reports and is worried that the Soviets have said nothing - not a word about the destruction of their facilities in Syria. To his trained ear, the silence is deafening and more disturbing than any Soviet propaganda on the radio. When General Harken arrives at the command center, Mark fills him in on events. Dawn has not arrived yet on the American eastern coast; the general realizes it is “the witching hour” - the most dangerous time. Mark recommends that the general have the nuclear weapons released to SAC - a necessary first step before the weapons can be used. The general agrees, calls Washington, and obtains the necessary permission. This exercise saves them 95 seconds. More airborne tankers are scrambled at SAC bases throughout North America. As the orders to scramble are issued, word comes from NORAD that they are tracking what appears to be an incoming missile launched from the Soviet Union. Other reports come in of missiles being launched from submarines off the American East Coast. NORAD skips yellow alert and immediately goes to red alert. The war is on.

 “Peewee may be a mouse aboard ship but he’s a tiger in a Tiger. If I sent him up with orders to shoot down the moon, he’d try.” – pg. 69  Sidewinder: heat seeking, short range, air to air missiles  Syrian train bombing (ACCIDENT!) Mark sends Helen and the kids away “This is an evacuation, isn’t it, Dad?”

“It might upset their timetable but I’m afraid they’re all upset. It might just give Kremlin an excuse” - Mark “As long as people keep talking, they’re not fighting. When Moscow quits talking, I’m afraid they’re acting.” - Mark “Under the law, the President “owned” the nuclear bombs and missile warheads. Before the SAC could use the warheads, the permission of the President- or his survivor in a line of succession-must be secured.”

“Object, may be missile, fired from Soviet base…Sensitivity radar now has four objects on its screens. Speed and trajectory indicates they are ballistic missiles” - Ace “Thanks for the 95 seconds” -General

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