Space Opera by Jack Vance

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    The Phoebus , encapsulated in non-stuff like a worm in an oak-gall, slid across space with the speed of thought. The sun became a star, with Sirius a brighter star dead ahead. The musicians occupied themselves with practice, the vocalists with exercises and rehearsals. There were the inevitable outbursts of temperament, the formation and dissolution of cliques, several romances, as many quarrels, a spate of gossip, innuendo and caustic comment, and by these activities the ravages of space-sickness were for the most part avoided.
    At the halfway point Dame Isabel presided at a champagne party, where she made an address to the company: “I am very pleased by the manner in which everyone has adapted to the circumstances of the voyage. Ahead of us lies Sirius and Sirius Planet, which for most of us will be a first venture upon an alien world. Sirius Planet is not at all like Earth except in gravity and atmosphere. It occupies what I believe is known as the ‘Trojan position’ in relation to Sirius A and Sirius B; and receives only a tenth of the radiation Earth receives from the sun. Nevertheless a comfortable temperature is maintained both by internal heat and a ‘greenhouse’ atmosphere, which very efficiently retains heat. There is flora and fauna unlike anything with which we are familiar, and in fact the words ‘flora’ and ‘fauna’ are probably misnomers, as many of the Sirius life-forms fit neither category, or fit them both. There is an intelligent native population, which of course is the reason for our visit. Mr. Bickel will tell us more about the autochthones in a moment. I will anticipate him only to say that this race is not musically oriented — in fact the style of the native civilization might at first glance seem rather primitive, for they live in caves and potholes. Still we must avoid parochialism; it is possible that the byzantaurs, as the race is called, regard us as equally primitive.
    “I have given a good deal of thought to our first program. A choice is more difficult than you might suppose. It is necessary to maintain an exquisite balance. We want to communicate with our audience, but still hold our artistic integrity at its highest levels. To this end we must select works which offer the largest possible number of contacts with the audience’s own milieu, the largest possible number of situations with which they can identify their own existences. I have decided that Fidelio will be our first offering, since much of the action occurs in a dungeon not unlike the blowholes in which the byzantaurs live.
    “Now, Mr. Bickel will tell us something more of the byzantaurs and the circumstances of their life.”
    Bernard Bickel arose, bowed urbanely. He wore a casual garment of black silk, tight at the ankles and belt, with a smart gold and silver piping; his neat silver mustache was crisp as a wire brush. With a polite smile of self-deprecation, he said, “Dame Isabel has covered the ground quite thoroughly; but I can fill in one or two details regarding the byzantaurs and the nature of their existences, since I have had occasion to visit Sirius three — or has it been four? — times previously. In any event I know Commandant Boltzen at the settlement well, and look forward to renewing our acquaintance.
    “As Dame Isabel has pointed out, Sirius Planet is a rather dim place, about as bright as an Earth twilight. One’s eyes rapidly adapt to the dimness and the landscape takes on a weird charm. Sirius Settlement lies almost beneath the Trapezus Vulcanism, and nearby live the Royal Giant byzantaurs, probably the most civilized tribe of the planet. Like the landscape, I fear they will seem initially ugly to your eyes, and they are certainly not anthropoid. They have four arms and four legs, and what appear to be two heads, but these latter simply contain the sense organs, as the brain is in the body itself. In spite of their nightmarish appearance they are responsive creatures, quite