Aslan Norval Page 11

  This question, for Beckford, came out of left field. Aslan, however, immediately understood why they had asked this difficult question. Beckford looked helplessly at her but received only a vacant stare. He looked at each of the gentlemen in turn, shrugged, and said: “I don’t know what to tell you about what would happen with the shares. I have never thought of that.”

  Senator Drake also looked at each of his colleagues and a satisfied grin swept across his face. Across the country, all those sitting in front of a television set saw the triumphant grin of the senator and thought: This is the turning point. From now on, true law and order will reign.

  The senator’s satisfied grin grew even wider as he turned not toward Beckford but toward the cameras. He said in a sharp voice: “You have just said in front of this committee that if the construction of the canal were to fail, you, as the general manager of the company, do not know what will happen with the shares. Is that correct, Mr. Beckford?”

  “That is correct, Mr. Senator,” answered Beckford, turning imploringly toward Aslan.

  “In other words, Mr. Beckford, and to be perfectly clear, the shares would have no value at all in that case. That means that this constitutes purposeful, unconscientious, and shameless fraud against the shareholders.”

  “No, it is not fraud, Mr. Senator.” Aslan’s full, sonorous voice rang out in the chamber. The cameras were not prepared for this sudden change of circumstances. With visible effort they swiveled to get Aslan, who was speaking from the background but slowly approaching the table at which the senators were seated.

  “It was not fraud, nor will it ever be fraud against the shareholders,” Aslan repeated, standing close to the table. Up until this moment, none of the senators, nor the reporters, nor the few audience members in the so-called gallery, nor the cameramen had paid any attention to Aslan. It had looked as if she were only one of the helpers, supplying materials, maps, and books whenever they were requested.

  “And who are you?” asked the chairman, Senator Clifford. “And I am warning you right here and now: Do not interrupt this hearing, or I will have you escorted out of the chamber.”

  “Gentlemen,” Aslan said, hypnotizing the senators with a seductive smile, “I am here to defend my shares and simultaneously the company. I am the president and majority shareholder. In this moment, I could, if I wanted to, liquidate the entire company and pay out all shareholders, or with official permission I could issue a new series of shares for the stock market.”

  The senators and Beckford were completely forgotten. Now, every camera was trained on Aslan. The cameras panned up and down her body. They missed nothing: her forehead, her hair, her eyes, nose, mouth, neck, breasts, her back, the curves of her rear, the shape of her thighs, her calves, her shoes, the cut of her perfectly fitting dress. Aslan offered, to them as well as the senators, ample opportunity to take in her elegant figure.

  The senators were at a loss. Nothing like this had ever happened before in a committee hearing. There was no precedent to turn to for guidance.

  After a short whispered discussion, the gentlemen decided to let Aslan participate in the hearing. The chairman ordered an adjournment and declared the hearing would continue the next day. Aslan was required to appear, since they were now summoning her as a witness. If she failed to do so, she would be subject to a large fine or even a prison sentence.

  No one was happier about the postponement than the cameramen, who appeared exhausted. The television viewers’ enthusiasm reached a fever pitch as they took in Aslan’s theatrical, well-orchestrated performance, her dominant personality, her almost scary self-confidence, her elegance, and her full beautiful alto voice. Sitting in front of their televisions they had worried that the hearing would digress into a boring legal battle. Now, they were ready to pay for the next episode if necessary. Those who had missed today’s drama could not wait to see act 2.

  The next day, the hearing was to begin again at one o’clock, but the cameras had been busy since twelve forty-five. In particular, they focused on Aslan’s pretty assistants, who were wearing different uniforms today, but were no less seductive. They left little to the imagination. At every opportunity, the cameras zoomed in as the women organized books, maps, lists, and newspaper clippings. The cameras presented their audience with the assistants’ beautiful legs and their shapely curves.

  How the TV network had obtained the rights to air the Senate committee hearing and how much they had paid for these rights remained a secret. For the network, this prelude was more important than the actual hearing because it allowed them to screen the advertisements that were actually funding the broadcast. According to their contract, they were forbidden from running any ads during the hearing, or they would be removed from chambers immediately.

  Just before one o’clock, Aslan appeared and all cameras turned to her. She was wearing a new dress, very different from yesterday’s.

  “Just gorgeous,” exclaimed the cameramen when they saw Aslan, so loudly that she could hear it.

  “Really?” she asked, shooting them her most beautiful smile, which the cameras in turn broadcast to viewers at home. Like the day before, the cameras sped around her as well as up and down her body. One camera was placed on a table, so that it captured Aslan from up high, almost directly above.

  “This is a particularly effective angle, ma’am,” the camera team’s boss explained. “I wish you could see yourself like this. Please turn to the right, then to the left. Now move your lips as if you were giving your assistants an order. Good, excellent, ma’am. Thank you.”

  A few minutes later, the gentlemen of the Senate walked into the chamber, as if to the Lohengrin “Wedding March,” their faces turned to the cameras. All present, including the crowd of reporters stood and scrambled to sit back down only after the gentlemen of the Senate had seated themselves with dignity and blown their noses loudly.

  “Miss Norval,” the committee chair addressed Aslan, “are you willing to serve as a witness in front of this investigative committee?”

  “I am ready to do so, sir.”

  “Are you willing to testify under oath, Miss Norval?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  The office clerk rattled off the oath. Aslan lifted her hand and said, “I do, so help me God.”

  Originally, they had only intended to question Beckford, since he was supposed to defend the management of the company. Beckford had declined to testify under oath, afraid of perjuring himself.

  “Miss Aslan Norval, you are one and the same who is known colloquially as the ‘American princess of inheritances’?”

  “Yes. It is an invention of the reporters.”

  “So, would you say that your net worth is in the billions, Miss Norval? I emphasize that you’re not obliged to divulge specifics if you feel uncomfortable.”

  “My net worth is many millions, sir. I have no reason to reason to hide that.”

  “You are one of the founders”—the committee chair glanced at the paper in front of him—“of the Atlantic-Pacific Transit Corporation, in short, of the APTC. Is that correct, Miss Norval?”

  “Correct.”

  “Do you have significant influence over the activities, enterprises, and projects of the company, Miss Norval?”

  “As the majority shareholder, I am able to control the company to the highest degree. I am also the presidentof the company and first chairperson of the board.”

  “Mr. Beckford, who stood before us yesterday, is the general manager of the company? Is that correct, Miss Norval?”

  “That is entirely correct, sir.”

  “Can Mr. Beckford make any executive decisions on behalf of the company?”

  “Mr. Beckford cannot make decisions of any importance without my approval, which the board also has to approve. The secretary of the board must present it on the agenda and has to sign off on any decisions.”

  “Yesterday, you were present in these chambers during the entire hearing and heard all of Mr. Beckford’s s
tatements. Do you admit that, Miss Norval?”

  “Yes, I heard every word that Mr. Beckford said here.”

  The chairman turned toward the law clerk:

  “Clerk, please read back from the record what the witness has just stated.”

  The law clerk repeated the words: “‘Yes, I heard every word that Mr. Beckford said here.’”

  “Miss Norval”—the committee chair now turned to Aslan—“do you have anything to add to or change in your statement?”

  “No, I don’t have any changes to make, and I repeat: I heard every word Mr. Beckford spoke in this room yesterday.”

  Aslan knew that the reading out loud of her statement was a farce, since cleverly disguised microphones had been placed at twelve different locations in the chambers and would document everything she said for eternity. It was the chairman’s intention, however, to draw attention to this question. He nodded at his fellow senators as if to say: Now we’ve got her.

  “Miss Norval, you indicated that you heard everything Mr. Beckford explained yesterday. Therefore, you also heard, of course, that Mr. Beckford, the general manager of the APTC, admitted that the company’s shares would be worthless if the canal were not to be completed due to lack of funds. Did you hear that, Miss Norval?”

  “The words, sir, are not entirely accurate, but the gist is correct.”

  “Miss Norval, you claim under oath that you are the founder of the company and furthermore that you are the president of the company, and that you control it in such a way that other shareholders only have a relatively limited influence on its activities. Is that correct, Miss Norval?”

  “That is absolutely correct, sir.”

  “Miss Norval, you built this company on the insecure, uncertain, and uncontrollable grounds that if the funds—which no doubt would amount to billions of dollars—were to dry up, the shares will be worthless. In other words, the shareholders would lose their investment. Did you inform the shareholders of this risk, Miss Norval?”

  “I consider all people who buy shares of our company intelligent enough to figure that out themselves without getting a warning from me.”

  “In my humble opinion, Miss Norval, that is not a valid excuse. Everyone can buy shares, whether they are intelligent or not. Shares are a commodity.”

  “I admit that, Mr. Senator. However, no one buys shares without ascertaining prospects of profit and loss.”

  “That might be the case, Miss Norval.”

  The committee chairman slowly blew his nose, apparently to think about what question to ask next. His neighbor to the right took this opportunity to whisper something into his ear. The chairman leaned toward him to hear him better. He looked utterly satisfied, and this look of satisfaction was broadcast to the world. He cleared his throat loudly and looked left and right to ensure that everyone present, especially the reporters, understood that he was about to ask a question to devastate Aslan.

  Squinting at her, he asked in an innocent tone, as if he were asking where she would vacation next: “Miss Norval, have you ever heard of the Panama Scandal?”

  After asking his question, he turned to all sides as if expecting applause. Almost everyone present understood the significance of his question. A great similarity existed between the possible outcome of the Aslan project and that of the infamous Panama Scandal. The reporters were writing so feverishly that they did not even look up to see what effect this question had on Aslan. Two reporters ran to the phones. Huge letters on the front pages of the first evening papers would scream: “APTC project overshadows Panama Scandal, the senatorial committee decided today. They predict a billion-dollar crash.”

  Aslan gave the cameras her sunniest smile as she answered calmly: “Mr. Senator, not only have I heard about the Panama Scandal, but I have studied it in detail, at least from whatever documents are available. The government keeps the most important documents hidden, inaccessible to the public. They are likely top secret.”

  “Top secret, you say, Miss Norval? As far as I know, you can read the entire history of the construction of the Panama Canal in any textbook.”

  “Mr. Senator, I am sure you can only read in textbooks what the government wants its citizens to know.”

  “That’s for their own good. But to return to the matter at hand: Miss Norval, you don’t see any similarity between the possible collapse of your company and the well-known Panama Scandal?”

  “Not even the slightest similarity, Mr. Chairman. The financial crash of the French canal construction company was well thought-out and artificially produced by external powers. It was neither in the interest of the British nor of our own country to have the Panama Canal in French possession. Clever propaganda convinced the world that it was impossible to build such a canal. How strange then that our government successfully purchased the rights, lands, and machines to build the canal for forty million dollars. Suddenly it was no longer considered a fantasy of French speculators.”

  “It appears, Miss Norval, that we had a better understanding of that kind of business, don’t you think?” asked the chairman, looking around with a smile to see approval on the reporters’ faces.

  “That is correct, Mr. Senator, we do have a better understanding of this kind of business. Consider the way in which our government gained possession of the canal zone through relatively dirty political maneuvers with regards to Colombia. This whole affair is not a very honorable or praiseworthy history on our part. We should be ashamed of ourselves, since we always talk about the rights of self-determination of other countries, except when such rights seem to infringe upon our own economic and political interests.”

  The committee chair forcefully banged his gavel. In a threatening tone, he warned: “Miss Norval, it is my duty to inform you that we are not here to listen to your judgments on the acquisition of the Panama Canal, but rather to examine the APTC’s financial security.”

  “With all due respect, I was not the one who brought up the Panama Canal and a possible repeat of a similar financial scandal, which my company might be planning, according to the most revered committee. As you just said, Mr. Senator, it is indeed the task of this highly respectable committee to examine the health of our company’s finances. Since you brought up the Panama Scandal, I was prompted to explain to the honorable gentlemen of the Senate the great extent to which the origins of the Panama Scandal differ from the circumstances in which our company wishes to build a canal.”

  “All right, Miss Norval, I am inclined to admit that the situation in your case is fundamentally different. To have somewhat of a comparison by which we can abide, let’s focus on the actual Panama Canal, as it exists and functions today, and not its historical background. Can you tell us the length of the Panama Canal, Miss Norval?”

  “From open water to open water a little less than fifty-one statute or overland miles, which means a little more than forty-four international nautical miles.”

  “And how long did the construction of a canal spanning little more than forty-four nautical miles take, Miss Norval?”

  “Ten years, sir.”

  “Ten years? So, we are talking about four and a half nautical miles per year?”

  “Approximately, Mr. Chairman. I do have to note however, that the difficulties that presented for the construction of the Panama Canal do not exist for us. Panama was one of the unhealthiest regions on earth. Workers, technicians, and engineers died in droves due to malaria and other tropical diseases. Today, the technical advances, the machines and explosives, would allow us to build fifty miles of canal per year with enough workers and excellent organization. We could possibly do it in even less time.”

  “However, you have to admit, Miss Norval, that the Panama Canal might still not exist today if our government had not come to the rescue.”

  “No, I won’t admit that, Mr. Senator. A private business would have bought the permit and completed the canal. Our government would not have hindered a private company.”

  “Miss Norval, if a pr
ivate company experienced such a far-reaching financial collapse while building the Panama Canal of only forty-four nautical miles in length, then how many financial crises do you think would result from building a canal of—how many nautical miles did Mr. Beckford say yesterday, clerk?”

  The clerk turned the pages of the court record. “Two thousand two hundred thirty-four nautical miles, Mr. Senator.”

  “Actually, Mr. Senator, the canal we plan to build will only be a little more than about half of that number, about one thousand two hundred thirty-seven nautical miles.”

  The senators looked at one another incredulously.

  Aslan waved to her assistants and immediately three large maps went up. Aslan stepped to the side to allow the committee a clear view of the maps. As she continued to speak, three of the assistants corroborated Aslan’s speech with long pointer sticks.

  “Here is New York and here is San Francisco, with a distance in between of two thousand two hundred forty-three nautical miles, as Mr. Beckford indicated correctly yesterday.”

  “But that is the canal route we have been talking about for two days,” interrupted Senator Shearer.

  “The honorable gentlemen of the Senate and Mr. Beckford have indeed been discussing this route, but I have not.”

  “When we first came up with the idea of a transnational canal, it’s true we imagined a direct route connecting New York and San Francisco. To my surprise, it seems that Mr. Beckford is still stuck on that original idea. Mr. Beckford is merely the general manager of our company. He has no knowledge of our technical plans. Therefore, he could not know about the new blueprints the board had approved by engineers and geographers just a few days ago. This is the project that the company plans to execute.”

  The senators let Aslan speak without interrupting her.

  “I now have the great honor of standing in front of this committee, which has been charged with determining whether our company’s plan is feasible or whether we knowingly sold shares in a worthless company. I am standing here accused of having knowingly founded a company that I knew would fail. But the project is feasible. The fact that our shareholders are not selling is proof that they believe it as much as we do.”