Бруно Травен - Aslan Norval

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 statements. 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?”