GI JOE Porn Story: The Return of Sgt Goodwin Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Old Snakes Never Die

The elevator took Danny down to a level of the pentagon that was seldom seen and never acknowledged. As the ranger had promised, A sentry waited when the elevator door opened. The sentry, who could not have been anymore that 21 years old, saluted Danny out of respect and awe. Danny returned the salute, certain that he had scars on his body older than the soldier that was to take him to General Abernathy.

This way, Gunnery Sergeant, Sir.

Danny followed the sentry down a non-descript hall. There was nothing on the walls. They were bare and an ashen grey color. There was simply no one to impress. Interior decorators were not in demand in the top secret underground layers of the pentagon.

The sentry led Danny by a series of doors that featured no windows and were rather thick. Each door had a number and an intercom. otherwise they were the same. The only sounds that were heard were the clacking of boots from Danny and the sentry. The only light was provided from overheard lights, protected by cages, spaced apart every few feet. The dank smell of moisture permeated the air.

Finally, the sentry stopped by door 18. He pushed a button on the intercom. The Generals instantly recognizable gravelly voice answered.

Yes?

The sentry spoke up.

Sir, Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Goodwin has arrived.

The door lock snapped and the sentry pushed the door opened. He again saluted Sergeant Goodwin.

He is expecting you sir. I will wait out here.

Danny thanked the sentry and entered the room. There was a short walk then Danny went through another door and entered the Generals office.

The General smiled and stood up. The two old soldiers offered a salute to each other simultaneously.

Hey Rage!, the General said, addressing Danny by his seldom used code name.

Long time, no see!

Yes Sir, Danny answered in a nervous voice. It has been a long time.

The General laughed. At ease, Dan! Its just me! How is my little man?

Now Danny smiled. General Abernathy had been honored when Danny and Beth named their son after him.

Hes growing into a regular little Hawk!

General Abernathy laughed again. Now, that is what I like to hear!

The General gestured to a chair in front his desk. Danny sat down, briefly surveying his surroundings. Pictures of Hawks family, including Dannys son Clayton were on the Generals desk. Video screens behind the Generals desk that showed the status of world events. A computer on Hawks desk. The computer had been on for a while and the screen saver read 911-Never Forget with a Bald Headed Eagle crying over the American Flag.

It was Danny who spoke first.

General, forgive me, but I must ask, what is going on? I know you wouldnt call me like this if it wasnt urgent. I am really worried that something is terribly wrong. Whats going on?

General Clayton Hawk Abernathy nodded. His face betraying deep concern.

Yes. There is trouble Dan. There is no way for me to sugar coat it. Hawk stood up and turned his computer to Dans view point and began speaking.

Much of the focus of what I have been involved in has officially been Al Quaeda and associated scum. In fact, G.I. Joe teams have been in Iraq and Afghanistan on secret operations. Of course, much of that is on a need to know basis, but the point is, part of what you thought you were training soldiers for is true.

The general pulled a portable metal box out from under his desk.

See, Dan, we know what Bin Laden did. He has always had a lot of money. It is a rich family he comes from. That is why he was successful in attacking us. He was able to afford the resources to pull off that attack, and of course, we didnt help. You didnt hear me say this Dan, but truthfully the last 3 Presidents, including our current one, simply did not and would not listen to reason. Now matters are worse.

Danny was alarmed.

What is it, sir? What are those bastards up to now? Are they going to attack us again?

The anger in the old Marine was such that Hawk was momentarily taken aback. Hawk knew the heart of a patriot beat in the sergeants chest. He also knew, as many people didnt that in 1980, as a young marine, Danny had secretly been sent to Afghanistan along with other forces in a clandestine mission to train rebels to resist the Soviet invasion. One young man that Danny grew to know rather well, was Osama Bin Laden. The experience haunted Danny to this very day.

Now, now. Hold it a second. Thats why we called you Rage!, The general said with a smile.

Yes, Bin Laden IS a bastard, and he is trouble. But, trust me, he is only part of the problem.

Danny looked even more concerned. North Korea then? Iran? Wait, I know, Bush finally figured out Saudi Arabia is not our friend!

Abernathy shook his head. You and your politics, no thats not it, be patient and Ill explain, he admonished.

Danny held up his hands. Im sorry General, like I said, I am really freaked out by this, I know it cant be good that Im here with you, sir.

Abernathy agreed. No, Dan. You are right. I understand your emotion. Youre way to smart not to know how bad this is, and it is bad. You see, our trouble with Bin Laden and his group and those other lousy countries you mentioned is just part of it. The other part, the biggest part, is Cobra.

Dannys grew large. He simply stared. His nostrils flared. Cobra? What, how?

The General placed his arm on Dannys shoulder. Yes, I know. Much of your life, in fact much of your blood and guts has been invested on destroying a threat you thought was over.

Danny shook his head. No General, I knew they were still around, but they seemed like small beans. I never thought wed get rid of Cobra completely, because theyre like roaches, you know? But I didnt think they would ever rise to a threatening level again.

Hawk nodded. That was the old Cobra Danny. That was the Cobra that was just too paranoid for its own good. They really had a good going in the 80s. There was money, there was men and material and by God, they had the know how, but Cobra Commander just had too much of a napoleon complex and he just wrecked every good idea they came up with. The New Jersey attack on our base in 1984 was a perfect example of that. They found us. It was brilliant how they did it, but the Commander couldnt wait and they hit us too soon. Oh yes, the attack was a success, and we were crippled, but the backlash! We came at them with everything we had and used all our armed forces against them for the first time. It was the beginning of the end. They were never the same.

Danny exhaled a deep sigh. He was never the same either. Once Lonzo Stalker Wilkinson died, Danny became harder, meaner and very bitter. Despite his injuries and despite the fact that he was basically able to use just one leg for months after the attack, he still accompanied a team to Cobra Island. He had nearly caught Zartan then. He would never come close again.

Hawk continued. The other part of the problem was funding. It sounds great in theory, find a bunch of yahoos who hate America and created an army to fight us. But this is the real world, and that costs money. You cant just build a base with nothing and get weapons for nothing. You need money. In the 80s, Extensive Enterprises with Tomax and Xamot was the front for that, but Extensive Enterprised had its own problem as you remember Dan. Dirty money cant be hidden forever and eventually that source of funding for Cobra dried up. Well, they appear to have solved that problem.

Danny wiped sweat from his brow. How? he asked in a hoarse voice.

Hawk brought up a cooler that had been on the floor by his desk. He opened it and took out a bottle of water, he handed Danny one, who accepted.

Well for starters, they left the country. Extensive Enterprises is now based in Nigeria. There are branch offices throughout West Africa. Now, they are making money for Cobra like you wouldnt believe.

Danny shook his head in disgust. The Drug trade again huh?

General Hawk responded negatively. No, not this time. That worked years ago, along with just having Cobra operatives come to America and Pilfer from their jobs or just rob banks, or even work as free lance hit men and split the money with Cobra, no that was small compared to this. You see, Dan, as big a clod as Cobra Commander always was and the way he would just self destruct, he always surrounded himself with brilliant people. Destro, The baroness and yes, those damn twins too. This time, they are involved in lower profile schemes. They chose West Africa, because, simply put, there is no government in many of these countries anymore. There is too much going on for Extensive Enterprises to be noticed. If they are noticed, then these flimsy and often corrupt governments can be paid off. They really dont care, they have their own trouble.

Danny spoke up. How are they making money Sir?

Well, Hawk began. This is why I have to hand it to them. They have been doing it in a way that is hard to stop and even harder to detect. As you know, over the last 5 years or so, the internet has REALLY exploded in the world. Everyone, it seems has a computer now. So, what they have been doing is sending out mass e-mails, all over the world, but mainly to the United States. These emails often claim that there is trouble with a persons bank account, or they need to verify information and then they supply a form in the email to fill out the information. There is also a letter scam where they claim that they have money tied up and they need the money to help a kid or something, But they need an American to hold the money and if the person helps then theyll share some of it. Other times they just use the phone and call people. They use faxes. Sometimes they get people to send specific amounts of money, other times they steal their identity and have people use it to buy weapons and supplies. My favorite of their scams though, is when they respond to people selling cars on the internet. Thats a good one, Dan! They express interest in the car and tell them an associate will pick it up. Then if the car is 5-thousand-dollars, then they send a check for 10-thousand. When the person calls about it they are told it is a mistake and go ahead and cash it and wire the difference back. Of course, the check is bogus and the money is gone before anyone figures it out.

Danny looked bewildered and stunned. He just shook his head in disbelief.

Hawk continued. Of course, sometimes they get the car too and sell it and make more money. Other things they have been involved in have been the old stand bys. Robberies, drugs and good old fashioned stealing. But that has tapered off in recent years. They have a good thing going with what I just told you.

Danny still couldnt believe it. Why arent we telling people not to fall for this?

Hawk answered. People ARE told, Dan. By the authorities, by the Better Business Bureau, you name it. In truth, most people just delete these stupid emails, or hang up on them on the telephone or throw the letters away. MOST people, but not all Dan. See, if you just get one out of 100 people to fall for this crap, that is a great average. There is no overhead on an operation like this. None. You can fool very few people and still make out like a bandit. Remember the old adage about a penny a day doubled for a month? You just dont notice the little things.

Hawk looked Danny in the eye. We have several operatives in Extensive Enterprises. They made almost 2 billion dollars last year alone.

Danny flinched. Oh my Christ!”

Hawk agreed. Yeah, like I said soldier, its bad. Thats just this year. The past 6 years or so have seen them really clean up. These scams out of West Africa are nothing new. It is just that Cobra has taken over. It was organized crime syndicates that were running them, but Cobra has killed off most of them. We didnt notice, but then, how the hell could we? So much else to do and Cobra was thought to be a problem solved. We finally placed operatives into Nigeria and they managed to be recruited for the operation. It has meant that they have helped fund Cobra, but they would have taken the money anyway. The information has been priceless. For one thing, we are now certain that Xamot is actually dead.

Danny shot the General an inquisitive look. He is?

Yeah, came the Generals reply. Nothing as dramatic as a shooting or some feud with a Cobra higher up. He developed Leukemia in the summer of 2001 according to our intelligence.

The general opened his file and found a picture. He handed it too Danny.

That person with Tomax, is actually Zartan. Not a big surprise. They dont want to advertise to the rest of the world that the notorious twins are down to one. Its not good business. This also was a way to bring Zartan into the operation, along with the Dreadnoks and his brother and sister. Danny, look, I know what Zartan did to you, and did to Sylvia, and you may yet get him someday, but you must not let that get in the way of what needs to be done. Understand?

Danny answered affirmatively. I do Sir, you have nothing to worry about.

I know, answered Hawk. That is why I brought you here. Now as bad as things have been our intelligence says it will get worse and soon. There is no time to waste. Now, Dan I am going to tell you exactly why you were brought here.

Danny stiffened. He remembered secret meetings years ago with Hawk and Duke, sometimes with Flint and even Beachhead. He recalled the exciting feeling of knowing they were to embark on a secret classified mission into another country. One of those missions where the government would deny any knowledge of them if they were caught. It had an air of romance in those days. The idea of making a night jump from a plane, or sneaking across a border or even coming ashore after paddling miles and miles on a rubber raft. Sure it was dangerous work, but it was an honor to be selected for it and in a perverted way it had been fun. Now Danny had none of those feelings. His heart was only full of dread and anger. There was also a sense of desperation. How many enemies could America face at once and be expected to survive? The battle weary old veteran looked at General Hawk, ready to learn his destiny.

End Part 5