Welcome to Nebraska.

"Nebraska is very flat," Natalie noted, staring out of the window as the coach bus drove east along Highway 34 from the Lincoln Airport towards the village of Eagle. "Has anyone ever been to Nebraska before?"

"I made a stopover on my way to Portland once," Jennifer replied.

"So why are we in Nebraska?" Zoe wondered, looking at the sunset. "We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"That's the point," Jonathan answered. "We're doing a social and psychological experiment so we need to be isolated from the rest of civilization — this is why our home for the next two years will be in a decommissioned Atlas missile silo."

Several of the women gasped.

"Is there still a nuclear warhead?" Zoe asked innocently.

"No, silly!" Leah sighed, rolling her eyes.

"The silo has been fully refurbished and in its place are fifteen floors," Lauren explained. "We'll have a tour when we arrive at the site in about forty minutes."

The coach bus drove past the southern border of the village of Eagle without anyone noticing. It continued eastward along Highway 34 through the nondescript farmland for another twenty minutes until it stopped to turn right down disused paved road, passing a farmhouse on the left before the road took a slight bend in a fenced wooded two acre lot. There were already other cars and trucks in the small paved lot in front of the concrete bunker in the middle of the complex. The female crew, wearing their NASA flightsuits, exited the coach bus with a mix of excitement and anxiety but they were calmed by Jonathan's smile as he led them to the rallying point in front of the bunker.

"You're here!" the director of NASA's Human Spaceflight Capabilities Division greeted the group with a warm smile. The middle age man was surrounded by other leadership within NASA. "Welcome to your new home!"

"Thank you, Director Neumann," Lauren smiled back.

"We have already transported and moved your equipment and personal items into the complex," the director of NASA's Human Research Program noted as he lead the group towards the massive 8-ton blast doors. Workers busily moved past them to finish the final preparation for the project, including grabbing the crew's luggage from the coach bus.

"I see most of NASA is here, Director Baumann," Jonathan joked as they walked into the circular grass-covered bunker, the only part of complex that was above ground.

"Well, this is NASA's most ambitious analog mission to date so we all wanted to see you off before you disappear deep into the earth for a couple years!" the director smirked. "By the way, I saw your interview. Good work on educating the public on the necessity and importance of the analog mission."

"Thank you, sir," Jonathan nodded.

"I hoped all of you had an enjoyable 'shore leave' before going back to work?" the director asked.

"Yes, we did. Julie was a wonderful hostess, sir," Jonathan replied, intentionally not mentioning the extravagant dinner, rooftop pool-side party, nor the thousands of dollars his mothers spent on clothing for the female crew.

"Not all of you have been here before so shall we begin the tour of your new home?" Director Neumann announced as the group walked past the second pair of blast doors while a camera crew documenting the tour trailed behind them.