Dad wasn't happy when he saw me being dragged into Dome 1 by the woman in red.
He started to yell, but then got really quiet. 

"Where were you?!" 

There was something other than anger, there, too.

I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't actually know where I had been, and I
didn't know how to describe it then, either.

Dad wasn't really satisfied when I said "I was following Little from Dome 3."

The anger faded from his face, though, and I think I saw tears in his eyes
before he pulled me close and hugged me. I was glad he wasn't so angry. His big
deep voice was usually reassuring, but when he was angry, it got scary.

When we got back to our housing pod, dad asked for my comm, and he spent a long
time poking and prodding its switches and dials inside, making the squelching
noise every few seconds to make sure it still worked. Eventually he snapped it
shut again.

"I don't know why it didn't work. It's working fine now. Take mine, and I'll
use this one to make sure it works."

I didn't mention that I had gone outside the dome itself.

Dad handed me his all black comm. It was a little bigger than mine, and a
little heavier. Somehow that made me feel safe. He put mine on his belt, just
how it was, covered in little dots of white paint that were supposed to look
like stars, and a sticker of the earth half covering the speaker.

"Make sure you tell Supply tomorrow that we traded. That way it doesn't look
like I'm out playing all day, and it doesn't look like you're doing physics."

"I will, Daddy"