Free Origins: The Reich by Mark Henrikson

to recite a stanza to the crowd praising them for breaking free from the slavery of serfdom and exploitation.  He implored them to maintain the alliance between workers and peasants, for alone they could not have defeated the landlords or capitalists.
    Next, Stalin expounded upon the virtues of accepting diversity among the nations as Lenin so vehemently preached.  Russians and Ukrainians, Bashkirs and Byelorussians, Georgians and Azerbaijanians, Armenians and Daghestanians, Tatars and Kirghiz, Uzbeks and Turkmenians were all equals under the communist ideals.
    Again Comrade Stalin pledge to the body of Lenin, along with thousands from the crowd.  “DEPARTING FROM US, COMRADE LENIN YOU ENJOINED US TO STRENGTHEN AND EXTEND THE UNION OF REPUBLICS. WE VOW TO YOU, COMRADE LENIN, THAT THIS BEHEST, TOO, WE SHALL FULFILL WITH HONOR!”
    Stalin stopped speaking for a moment and allowed the fervor of the crowd to die down for his final words to hit every listener with clarity.  “More than once did Lenin impress upon us that the respite we won from the capitalist states might prove a short one.  More than once did Lenin point out to us that the strengthening of the Red Army and the improvement of its condition is one of the most important tasks of our Party.  The events connected with the Great War once more confirmed that, as always, Lenin was right. Let us vow then, comrades, that we shall spare no effort to strengthen our Red Army.”
    Once more, all those in the million strong crowd declared to their fallen leader along with Joseph Stalin, “DEPARTING FROM US, COMRADE LENIN, YOU ENJOINED US TO STRENGTHEN THE RED ARMY. WE VOW TO YOU, COMRADE LENIN, THAT THIS BEHEST, TOO, WE SHALL FULFILL WITH HONOR!”
    With those inspired words, any doubts Oleg still harbored concerning Stalin’s dedication to Lenin’s true legacy of leading the worker’s fight against the privileged classes was washed away.  He vowed at that moment to follow Stalin’s leadership of the USSR until the end of his days.
     

Chapter 8:  Man Behind the Iron Curtain
     
    “ that was a fine speech that you delivered yesterday,” Valnor commended while gazing out the General Secretary’s window into the snow swept streets of Moscow.  Workers outside the House of Trade Unions labored below to clean up after the funeral of Vladimir Lenin.
    Millions of people braved the thirty degree below zero conditions for hours in order to make their pilgrimage.  In endless lines, the people marched past the bier holding Lenin’s embalmed body and for four days and four nights they never stopped marching.  It was something unsurpassed and awe-inspiring for him to personally witness.
    Valnor observed the light from the last trashcan fire, used by the crowds to stay warm, go out.  In that moment he concluded that it was time for him to move on as well.  He narrowed the focus of his eyesight to the point he no longer saw the scene beyond the windowpane, but rather the reflection of Joseph Stalin sitting at his desk reviewing a stack of papers.  The man professed to be of the people and dedicated to their collective prosperity, but Valnor knew better.  This was a hard man.  Everything about his physical appearance conveyed a need for power, but for Valnor, the eyes were what truly gave him away.
    Those dark orbs conveyed an emotionless soul dominated by fierce intellect and a ruthless, selfish nature. Those dark windows into his inner thoughts left no doubt in Valnor’s mind that Joseph Stalin was capable of almost anything; good or evil.  All Stalin needed to bring his true nature to the surface was for someone to show him the way, and much to his chagrin, that someone was Valnor.
    Though his face was still several inches away from the glass, an intense chill penetrated the barrier to the point Valnor could barely feel his nose.  He turned back toward the room to look upon the General Secretary and finish his complimentary statement.  “In fact, I don’t