Page "Alas, Babylon" Paragraph 1

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 Central Florida political family, Bragg is a former active duty U. S. Army infantry officer and Korean War veteran whose own foray into public life was a run for the Florida 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 at Offutt Air Force Base 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 he will have at McCoy Air Force Base, southeast of downtown Orlando.

The telegram ends the message with an ominous code: " Alas Babylon ", a Biblical reference that the Bragg brothers employed throughout their lives as a euphemism for disaster.