We all should know what to do in case of a nuclear strike

Plot summary

Randy (Randolph) Bragg, the protagonist, is a man who dabbles at law and lives a life with little purpose. He lives in the small, Central Florida town of Fort Repose, which was founded by an ancestor during the 19th century. The scion of a once prominent political family, Bragg is a former Korean War infantry officer whose own foray into public life was a run for the state legislature which proved disastrous because of his open support for racial desegregation based on the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Randy's life appears to be drifting down a somewhat aimless path when he receives a telegram from his older brother, Colonel Mark Bragg, an Air Force Intelligence officer currently serving with the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at its headquarters outside of Omaha, Nebraska. In the telegram, Mark informs Randy that he is sending his wife and two children to stay in Fort Repose, and that he wants to meet with Randy during a brief layover at McCoy AFB, in Orlando. The telegram ends the message with an ominous code: "Alas Babylon", a Biblical reference that the Bragg brothers employed throughout their lives to warn of danger. Only this time, as Randy would soon learn, it foretold a more ominous warning.

Randy drives to McCoy Air Force Base and meets Mark's arriving plane. While the jet is refueled, Mark explains to Randy the background for sending the urgent message. The Soviets evidently perceive a weakness in US and Allied defense posture and are believed to be staging an attempt to take advantage of the situation. A defecting Soviet military officer has brought the Russian "war plan" to the West. Mark believes the Russian plan is flawed and that the West would ultimately prevail, but danger lies in Moscow's belief that they can succeed, which emboldens them to risk war. Mark informs Randy that he is flying his family down to Florida to stay with him indefinitely - or until Mark feels the threat has passed. The brothers soon say their goodbyes, and Randy realizes that he may never see Mark again. Heading back to Fort Repose, Randy privately warns those people of Fort Repose whom he believes to be his friends of the impending war, including Dr. Daniel Gunn (perhaps Randy's closest friend in Fort Repose) as well as Elizabeth "Lib" McGovern, a young woman for whom Randy has come to care deeply.

During the early hours of the next morning, Randy drives to Orlando airport to meet his sister-in-law (Helen) and her two children (Peyton and Ben Franklin) arriving from Omaha. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Mediterranean, a U.S. Navy task force is being shadowed by unidentified (and presumably hostile) aircraft. The USS Saratoga launches a pursuit aircraft to intercept, identify and (if necessary) shoot down the "bogie". Ensign "Pee Wee" Cobb, is flying the pursuit plane, an F-11 Tiger off the coast of Syria (a Soviet ally) and locates the unidentified aircraft. he is given permission to pursue and attack. Cobb closes on the "bogie" and fires a heat-seeking missile. The missile goes off course because the enemy plane shuts off its engines, and the missile hits an ammunition depot at Latakia, Syria, resulting in an explosion that may or may not have included nuclear devices. This event becomes the apparent casus belli for the Soviet Union to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States and her allies.

Early the following morning, Mark is on duty at SAC headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, known as "The Hole". He and fellow officers express concern that reports of unidentified submarines ("skunks") approaching the US Eastern seaboard overnight, coupled with Moscow's unsettling silence following the attack at Latakia may signal the Kremlin is preparing to launch an attack. Mark recommends to SAC's commander, General Hawker, that SAC ask Washington to transfer the direct authority to use nuclear weapons, since the weapons-release process takes about a minute and a half, and the U.S. expects only about a fifteen minute warning if the Soviet Union were to attack. This is granted. Minutes later, radar stations report what appear to be inbound Soviet missiles from over the Arctic, as well as possible submarine-launched missiles heading toward the East Coast. Mark realizes what he feared most has arrived and turns to walk back to his office. General Hawker orders all SAC facilities to go immediately to Red Alert. As Mark leaves, General Hawker says to him, "Thanks for the 95 seconds."