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“I know, but I can.”
Lila steepled her hands upon her desk and studied her mentor’s face. “Do you have something to say, commander?”
“Are you going to make me say it, Elizabeth? You’ve been burned out for months. When you’re here, your brain is elsewhere. When you’re elsewhere, your brain is here.”
“Elizabeth? If I’m slacking, tell me. Don’t dance around—”
“You’re not slacking. I’d be the first to tell you if you were.”
Lila shifted in her seat. “Fine. If I’ve been dumping too many things on you lately, I—”
“Having the commanders handle a few meetings on our own? Asking me to sign off on the occasional report here and there? That’s not slacking. We didn’t even have daily meetings under Chief Zoe. We had them twice a week, and she didn’t always attend. It took Chief Zoe five days to return reports; you average five hours. The only time you’re not replying to messages is when you’re asleep, something you haven’t been doing much of lately.”
Lila lifted her chin to protest, but Sutton cut her off with a wave.
“Don’t bother. Sometimes you work elsewhere, but you’re always here. Some days my inbox is already full of things you’ve sent at three o’clock in the morning. Same with Sergeant Jenkins and the other commanders. You even forgot that it was your day off yesterday until I reminded you. Your parents are right. You need to get away for a while, and you need to leave your palm behind when you do.”
“I don’t need two weeks off.”
Commander Sutton frowned. “Two weeks? I suggested a month.”
“This came from you?”
“I told you that you needed some time off. When your parents called me in last night and brought it up, I agreed with them.”
“Traitor.”
“Hey, it’s hard when the prime minister asks for your opinion. I may be old and married, but I’m not dead. He’s got those eyes that just kind of—”
“Don’t finish that thought. That’s my father you’re talking about.”
“Your hot father.”
Lila fiddled with her palm. “I just took time off, commander.”
“You mean that half-day you took when you got tranqed? Ms. Wilson told me you spend the entire evening puking out your guts in the toilet.”
“I took the next day off.”
“Wow. A whole day, a day required by militia regulations on several grounds, one being that someone nearly murdered you.”
Lila swiveled her chair back and forth. “I don’t need—”
“Chief, for oracle’s sake, go away. The place will still be standing when you get back next month.”
“Next week.”
“Three weeks.”
“A week.”
“Two,” Sutton insisted, “and if you come back before then, I swear to the gods, I’ll put you in a holding cell until your vacation is over.”
Lila wasn’t sure if her old mentor was joking or not.
“No one
in the militia is going to send you a damn thing for the next two weeks. If something does hit your palm, forward it to me so I can strangle the idiot who sent it you.”
