The truth was that I'd been a poor travelling companion for Trepp for most of the journey. In the cabin of the sub-ship I'd been steadfastly withdrawn despite Trepp's obvious interest in my background. Finally she gave up trying to extract anecdotes about Harlan’s World and the Corps and tried instead to teach me a couple of card games she knew. Impelled by some ghost of cultural politeness, I reciprocated, but two isn't an ideal number for cards and neither of our hearts was in it. We landed in Europe in silence, each flipping through our own selection from the jet's media stack. Despite Trepp's apparent lack of concern on the subject, I was having a hard time forgetting the circumstances of our last trip together.