Bail Channis

Bail Channis is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series.^[1] He is described as a handsome and popular character, very self-confident and intelligent.

Fictional history

The Mule chooses Channis to accompany General Han Pritcher on a search for the Second Foundation. The Mule tells Pritcher that he has chosen Channis for the task because he, the Mule, has chosen not to tamper with Channis's mind, thus leaving Channis more capable of making intuitive leaps which might lead him to his goal. In fact, the Mule has already determined that Channis is a member of the Second Foundation, and that he is attempting to lead the Mule into a trap. The Mule intends to use this knowledge to set a trap of his own. He secretly places a hyper tracer on Channis's ship, allowing him and his fleet to follow their progress.

Channis leads the search to Tazenda, which is a plausible place for the Second Foundation to be located. Channis and Pritcher visit a world controlled by Tazenda, Rossem, where the local elders, members of the Second Foundation, have been expecting them. When they return to their ship, Pritcher also comes to the conclusion that Channis is a member of the Second Foundation, and draws his atomic blaster on him, saying that the Mule would shortly be coming (both men had found the hyper tracer). Channis, however, uses his mental powers to convince Pritcher that he is not a member of the Second Foundation and that he (Pritcher) was being manipulated into killing him by the Second Foundation, who Channis says had planted the hyper tracer. Pritcher, convinced, decides to hand his blaster over to Channis.

At that moment, the Mule enters, takes Pritcher's firearm, and reveals that he had followed them and taken the core of his fleet with him to destroy the Second Foundation. In an act of desperation, Channis removes Pritcher's conversion by the Mule, but restrains him so he cannot harm the Mule. Channis then states that if the Mule kills him, Pritcher's bonds will be broken and he will kill the Mule. Defeated, the Mule then proceeds to forcing the location of the Second Foundation out of Channis through mental torture. Broken, Channis reveals its location: Rossem.

However, the Second Foundation springs its trap in a manner which proves a complete surprise to both Channis and the Mule: The Second Foundation has altered Channis' mind so that he honestly believes that Rossem is the Second Foundation, while the rest of the Second Foundation have left their real home world for Kalgan, where they will start an insurrection against the Mule. When the First Speaker of the Second Foundation informs the Mule of this, the Mule is shocked, and lets his defenses down momentarily. The First Speaker takes advantage of this, and mentally alters the Mule so that he no longer seeks to expand his empire. The Mule returns to Kalgan, taking Pritcher with him and leaving Channis with the First Speaker.

The First Speaker brings Channis "home", where his "original" mind is restored to him. Channis realizes that he does know the real location of the Second Foundation—to his great surprise.

References