Foundation Outline 9, Search by the Mule = Now You See It-

Search by the Mule

Written: 1946-1947
Published: 1948
22 900 words
Date: 298-302 F.E.

Note: This is really just a continuation of _The Mule_, not a fully
separate story. However, Bayta and Toran no longer appear. The Mule and
Pritcher are still used however.

1
TWO MEN AND THE MULE
Pritcher, now the Mule's General, returns to Kalgan from his latest
expedtion in search of the Second Fopundation; Bail Channis, a charming
young man and a voluntary, unconverted recruit of the Mule; Pritcher's
audience with the Mule, wherein he argures the Second Foundation
doesn't exist; Cannis and Pritcher set out on another expedition to
find the Second Foundation (4000)

2
FIRST INTERLUDE
A meeting of the Second Foundation: the First Speaker's Plan, which
involves letting the Mule find them-in a sense (700)

3
TWO MEN WITHOUT THE MULE
Channis and Pritcher depart on their search for the Second Foundation,
which Channis suspects may be on Tazenda; He finds a hypertracer on
board; Pritcher meditates on the problem of the Second Foundation
(3700)

4
SECOND INTERLUDE
Before a meeting of the Second Foundation, two members discuss the Mule
and the plan to stop him (100)

5
TWO MEN AND A PEASANT
Channis and Pritcher arrive on Rossem, a cold, barren outlying world of
Tazenda; A peasant greets them and advises the Elders of their arrival
(2400)

6
THIRD INTERLUDE
The first Speaker of the Second Foundaiton considers with himself of
the Mule (200)

7
TWO MEN AND THE ELDERS
Channis and Pritcher meet the Elders of Rossem; Channis and Pritcher
debate their mission and Channis' hypothesis that Tazenda is the Second
Foundation; Pritcher and Channis meet the Governor of Rossem;
Pritcher's pathological fear of being again tampered with mentally
(3400)

8
FOURTH INTERLUDE
Two anonymous Second Foundationers' forebodings (100)

9
ONE MAN AND THE MULE
Pritcher arrests Channis for treason and asserts that he is an agent of
the Second Foundation; The Mule arrives and announces Channis to be a
Second Foundationer (3900)

10
ONE MAN, THE MULE-AND ANOTHER
The Mule and Channis menace each other, while the Mule orders Tazenda
destroyed; Entrance of the First Speaker, who converts the Mule to
harmlessness (4100)

11
LAST INTERLUDE
Bail Channis is freed of his mental adjustment, and rediscovers his
original personality and the true location of the Second Foundation
(300)


Speaking of the homosexual references in the Foundation-something I
have never heard discussed before- this story has a doozy. Near the
beginning of "Two Men without the Mule" we find: "It was an old
path-sucked dry. He {Pritcher} found Bail Channis in the ship's
navigation room. The young man's curly hair was just sufficiently
disheveled to allow a single curl to droop over the forehead-as if it
had been carefully placed there-and even teeth showed in a smile that
matched it. Vaguely the stiff officer felt himself harden against the
other {!!!}. Channis excitement was evident..." I doubt Asimov knew
exactly what he was doing here - it is a case of the Freudian slip.
Earlier, the Mule had warned Pritcher "Uh... the young man is handsome,
pleasant and extremely charming..." Also, in "One Man and the Mule"
Pritcher's blaster repeatedly prods Channis' belly in a very ambivalent
way, to say the least.

Rossem is modelled either on Ovid's place of exile, or perhaps on his
parents' tales of life in Russia. The description is finely crafted,
and very convincing.