“Is everybody on the line?” Several voices whistled in response.

“Excellent. We have a short agenda and a long way to world domination, so let’s get started. Fweehewnn, what’s the budget status?”

“Financials are looking good, ma’am. We have a slight overrun in New York; one of our police-fighters was let go, so we have been sending resources to her.”

“Understood. How are the other police-fighters?”

“We still have fifteen on the East and West Coasts. Our man in DC was killed during the shoot-out at the museum.”

“Oh yes. A brief moment to pay our respects, please.” The line filled with low whistling, then stopped.

“May his children hold his ashes to the wind. Fweehewnn, please continue.”

“Yes, ma’am. We are expecting two new recruits on Friday, whom we will need to place as well.”

“Have we penetrated the midwest yet?”

“We have applied to Chicago.”

“Good. Add Houston to the list. To conquer Earth, we must conquer America. To conquer America, we must conquer Texas. The rest have merely been games.”