"Uh, yeah, I guess so. Just had a really vivid, really weird dream."

"So, is sleeping beauty back among the living?" a voice asked from the doorway.

Nate looked over to see Jude's smiling face poking into the cabin from the corridor. "Jude," Nate said, nodding toward his 'friend' as he moved through the doorway to enter the cramped quarters.

"Better get over to the galley and choke down some chow, partner," Jude said in his painfully cheerful voice. "We've got that EVA at 0900."

"Uh, right," Nate said. "EVA at 0900. And you're going to be working on..."

"Among other things, the cooling unit for the secondary power thrusters," Jude told him. "If you attended role call like the rest of us, you'd know what jobs had been assigned," he added with that winning smile of his.

"Right. I'll try to remember that."

"Okay. See you in the ready room at 0830," Jude said and ducked back into the corridor.

"Are you sure that you're all right?" Marie asked, with apparent concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. While still somewhat confused about what had happened, he was sure enough about one thing. He tossed the bed covers aside and climbed out of bed. "I just need to notify the crew chief that I won't be going on any more EVAs during this run."

"Why not?"

Nate looked carefully into Marie's eyes and could see nothing more than what appeared to be genuine concern for his well being. Still, not wanting to take any chances, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Let's just say that I've developed a sudden fear of open spaces and I don't want to 'accidentally' fall into one of them."