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Penna finds things from Earth in a secret room

After Merrin had left to join his wife at the company building,
Lissel looked at Penna: "You know there will be some consequences
from telling my father so much. He will let word of the farm slip out
all over. More and more traveling merchant groups will begin
visiting your ‘alien village’ outside of Fenmon."

"That can’t be all bad," Penna replied. "My parents should be glad
to see commercial visitors, since they’re anticipating future business."

Lissel nodded. Then she leaned across the table, and spoke in a
conspiratorial tone of voice: "I know that the people from space
stopped seeing my parents after they met Nennef and Jenna.
They’ve since been less vigilant about keeping the storeroom
guarded. I’ve discovered a way to get into the storeroom. The trick
is to use a time when there is no one in the company building. That
time will be in about a half hour. Do you want to go?"

"Me resist an adventure like that?" Penna replied. "I don’t think so!"
With Lissel leading, they sneaked up to the private storeroom
and looked over the strange boxes.

"These boxes are from distant worlds, my dear Lissel," Penna
said.

"They look like it to me," Lissel replied, "but how are you so sure
about it?"

"Because I can read some of the words in the Earth language,
English, on a few of the objects." Penna explained. "And look at
how precise the lettering is on these boxes. I can recognize
individual letters and numbers, but they’re shaped differently from
what Dad taught me."

"They all look like funny shaped little designs to me," Lissel said.
"And they’re all clumped together in straight lines at that. I don’t
see how anyone could read this stuff."

"That’s how they write on Earth," Penna replied. "My human
father taught me. Hmmm. Here I am, a human girl born on
Nenmar, holding in my hands objects which were made and used
on distant Earth where my other blood relatives live."

"That’s interesting," Lissel said, "but I’m not sure what you’re
getting at."

"I hadn’t thought about it much before," Penna continued, "but
now that I’m touching things I know are from Earth, I feel an
intense longing to commune with my Earth family. I long to meet
them and be with them. But, like Dad, I can think of no way that I’ll
ever be able to visit Earth. It saddens me deeply."

"It saddens me that you’re sad," Lissel replied. "These things are
so different. I wish I knew the whys and wherefores of them."

"Me too," Penna whispered, as her eyes began to water.

Lissel looked up. "A sad Penna. That’s a change. What’s the
matter?"

A huge tear from Penna’s eyes fell onto one of the boxes she was
holding. "There’s an entire half of my family I’ve never seen," she
replied. "The half of my family which lives on Earth. I love Nenmar.
Nenmar is my native home. But my family is on Earth also, and I
miss these people I’ve never seen. I hope I’m making sense."

"Perfect sense," Lissel said. "Since you are here on Nenmar, let
me ease your longing by being part of your family. Please let me. I
know I’m not human, but I love your human qualities and quirks.
You can possess one of the Nenmaran boys you like here in Renlar,
or in Fenmon, and revel with him in your Nenmaran qualities. And
then you can teach your children the ways of Earth, as your father
did you. You are blessed with the joys of two worlds, dear Penna.
Please let me enjoy them with you."

Penna said nothing, but turned and hugged Lissel. When they
finally broke their embrace, the teardrop on the box in Penna’s
hand had dried into a salty outline on its painted surface.