 Why did Alis tell Don that he should order his eggs scrambled for breakfast the next morning?
Radio messages stated simply that Superior had seceded from Earth. A truck driver named Pierce Knaubloch was the first to report it. He had been highballing west along Route 202, making up for the time he'd spent over a second cup of coffee in a diner, when he screeched to a stop. He backed up two hundred feet, set out flares, then sped off to a telephone. Communicating by radiophone across the vast pit, they confirmed that the town undoubtedly was missing. A pilot who flew over it reported that it looked as if a great ice-cream scoop had bitten into the Ohio countryside. The train's schedule called for it to pass through but not stop at Superior at 11:58. Someone pointed out that October 31 was Halloween and that midnight was the witching hour. A National Guard officer volunteered to take a jeep down into the pit, having found a spot that seemed navigable. The Governor of Ohio asked Washington whether any unidentified planes had been over the state. The Pentagon and the Atomic Energy Commission denied that they had been conducting secret experiments. A United Airlines pilot found Superior early on the morning of November 1. The object loomed out of a cloudbank at twelve thousand feet and Studley changed course to avoid it. One other radio message came from Superior, now airborne, on that first day. Don Cort had been dozing in what passed for the club car on the Buckeye Cannonball when the train braked to a stop. The redhead across the aisle in whom Don had taken a passing interest earlier in the evening asked, "Why did we stop?" When Don had entered the club car he'd seen her hatless head from above and noticed that the hair along the part was dark. But it was likely that all she noticed then was the brief case he carried, attached by a chain to a handcuff on his left wrist. Don hesitated, shrugged at the redhead, said, "Excuse me," and followed the conductor. Don made his way up to the locomotive and found a bigger knot of people gathered in front of the cowcatcher. There were red lanterns, both battery and electric; flashlights; road flares; and even an old red shirt. Don saw two men who must have been the engineer and the fireman talking to an old bearded gentleman wearing a civil defense helmet, a topcoat and riding boots.
 It was difficult for him to cut them with the briefcase handcuffed to himself.
 It was difficult for him to cut them with the briefcase handcuffed to himself.  They were better cooked that way in the cafeteria.  Because there were more available scrambled.  Because they were not cooked in water when they were scrambled.