José R. Ponce - "A Man from the Past" (1953)

INTRODUCTION

I can find no information on José R. Ponce. "A Man from the Past" was published in the January 1953 (#42) issue of Los Cuentos Fantásticos. Many thanks to Antonio from Proyecto F for supplying the text.

A MAN FROM THE PAST

HE WAS A STRANGE FELLOW, that young man barely 30 years old, who I used to meet every day at the automatic café. Sometimes, when I arrived, he already found himself posted up at a table and on other occasions, he made his appearance after mine.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was that seemed so strange about this individual; at least, he gave me the impression of one from a long distant age, not withstanding the fact that his clothing was quite common in our 23rd century, made from a fabric of a metalized plastic material, with temperature control, a helmet with a signal-detecting antenna, etc... His appearance was that of a stranger who hadn't yet become accustomed to the comforts of a Modern City.

He grabbed my attention so strongly that I decided to strike up a conversation with him at the first opportunity. Such an occasion soon presented itself, as one day the café was completely full, and noticing that he was alone at his table, I approached him and asked if I could sit there. He readily agreed, and I even got the impression that he thought the idea was a good one, as he was always alone and until then I'd never seen him talk with any friends. He gallantly brought the small remote control station to my side so that I could select my menu. I dialed a synthetic mineral soup on the disc, which was soon brought out by a robot waiter.

Over the course of the meal, I noticed that my companion preferred natural foods, despite being much higher in price than synthetics. I pointed this out to him and he explained that: "after eating natural foods for so long, I can't get used to artificial flavors." His answer confused me even more, since it was a long 200 years since the senseless and unnecessary radioactive bombs greatly reduced the soil's fertility, making artificial foods a necessary resort for survival.

As I left the café, I offered to take my new friend in my aeromobile to where he was working, which turned out to be a small factory making heating appliances using salt and water for fuel.

From that point on our friendship grew closer, we almost always ate together and talked about things of no importance, noticing that my friend always had the tendency to talk about events that were basically ancient with the same confidence as if he'd seen them himself.

He liked the stereo cinematograph as a mere curiosity; interplanetary travel still seemed to him an extraordinary thing despite being incredibly common in our time; in contrast, the temporal retrovisor, which allowed one to observe scenes from past times, was completely to his liking and he spent long hours manipulating the controls of the complicated device he installed in his house.

His room was a veritable museum of antiquities: there one could see old supersonic wave pistols, and even more antiquated, those that shot out solid projectiles via an explosive capsule; radios from all eras that had no screens and only produced sound; a television set still in black and white and without stereoscopic effect; mirrors made out of glass and a shiny metallic compound that displayed flat images; electric motors with countless unnecessary coils and a size disproportionate to their power. There were also writing instruments that had to be filled with ink, papers made of vegetable fiber instead of plastic, an ancient typewriter that was manipulated with the fingers and lacked the capacity of transcribing what was said aloud onto paper as modern machines can, and very curious clocks with a series of gears that had to be wound up daily for them to work.

But if the number of devices could surprise a visitor, the most extraordinary thing was a huge collection of photographs, most of them without three-dimensional effect, depicting landscapes, people and machines from all different times. One could see men in soft hats, ridiculously dressed women, racing cars with antiquated forms, houses with complex construction, and forests filled with vegetation that's impossible to see today.

The surprising thing about these photographs is that an individual appeared in all of them whose physiognomic features were identical to those of my friend, so much so that it would not be possible to suppose that they were several members of the same family, since such exaggerated similarities couldn't have been maintained by inheritance through as many generations as there logically must have been, since the dates of the photographs began in the distant 20th century.

With each visit, I became more intrigued by the life of this enigmatic subject, until finally, one time when I was at his house, he revealed to me the mystery of his extraordinary life, without me asking him. His explanation was more or less the following:

— "Even though my story may seem incredible to you, I swear to you that it's completely real and is precisely the cause of my constant worry, since you've been able to observe that I'm completely dominated by my troubles, which until now I haven't spoken to anyone about.

"Back in the year 1945, I had just finished up university; my affinity for research was strong, and at that time, atomic energy was attracting everyone's attention, the search for naturally occurring radioactive minerals dominated the public, who back then believed themselves to be living in a super-civilized world. It was World War II and the appearance of a type of explosive atomic bomb shocked the scientific world of that era, given that at that time the majority of weapons were solid projectiles.

"The war ended and countless new discoveries began to capture the public.

"By then, a stomach condition forced me to undergo long medical treatments and unbearable diets, even the most notable medical advances failed at giving me any improvement, so, completely desperate, I followed a regime based around infusions. I suppose the enormous variety of drugs I was ingesting produced a new compounded, whose effect I soon began to appreciate.

"I must clarify that during this time, my scientific prestige was great, especially at the beginning of the Third World War; my opinion was frequently consulted about new theories, the possibilities for a new discovery, futuristic ideas, etc. My job was quite well paid and my financial position was enviable.

"Like I was saying, the Third World War began against everyone's wishes, North American power was gradually crushed and there was an effective resurgence of the poorer countries, such as ours at that time. Revolutionary ideas began to dominate, creating true social equality. Since then, poverty was no longer known due to an equitable distribution of wealth; the standard of living of the populace rose considerably and industry progressed rapidly.

"The war lasted 17 years, at the end of which I could see that I hadn't aged in the least; I looked the same as 20 years prior, forming a remarkable contrast to my former comrades. My wife had grey hair and looked quite a bit older than me, while my children were grown up and anyone would have taken them for my brothers.

"During this time, supersonic wave weapons had already been invented, flat televisions in black-and-white became popular and accessible to everyone, turbine-based gas powered propulsion became perfectly controllable, but at the same time, a new class of specialized technicians was established and my field of work, which was extensive until then, was greatly reduced.

"I then took a job with a company that produced electrical devices which was trying to achieve a practical demonstration of atomic force.

"Time continued marching on, my wife grew old and died in 1996, my children looked like they were several years older than me.

"Then, it so happened that the illness, in whose care I attribute my extraordinary vitality and which until those days wasn't completely cured, grew more grave, requiring me to undergo surgery, in which a large part of my digestive system was replaced by organs made of a plastic material, which I've kept to this day.

"In 2005, the first voyage to the Moon was successfully completed, which gave birth to the idea of ​​making the satellite habitable and colonizing it.

"Under Zervitch's direction, new ships were starting to be manufactured at the industrial plant where I worked. Manufacturing was going well, but a terrible explosion destroyed the plant while I was away. One of the cadavers was identified as mine, and notice of my death was officially communicated.

"As the mystery of my life began to attract attention, I opted to change my name and start a new life. This went off without a hitch and I became an employee of the National Weapons Factory research laboratory.

"My field of work was reduced even further, and a great deal of the modern theories were incomprehensible to me: I was lucky enough to be present during the testing of a new weapon, the first successful one to use electromagnetic radiation, which was much later to revolutionize history, and thus known as the 'MOON BEAM'.

"In 2038, ambitions to colonize the Moon provoked a fourth world war, the combatants with atomic bombs launched newer models with extraordinary power, wiping entire cities from the face of the Earth. The introduction of the 'MOON BEAM', which already could be perfectly controlled, a fabulous invention by the Mexican Martínez Cué, could have put an end to the fighting. Human beings weren't affected by the new weapon, nor were any other living beings: rather, metals, mineral compounds and plastic materials were completely 'evaporated' without exploding. This has truly been the most humanitarian weapon ever created, so much to the degree where it's still used with certain modifications that allow it to be selective in the materials it destroys.

"However, the radioactive energy released by the atomic weapons caused a reduction in the germinative power of the Earth's crust. The next 50 years constituted a constant struggle against the destruction of crops, forests dried up almost completely, livestock farming was also affected by the lack of pastures and the animals died off.

"I had changed jobs and names several times so that no one would notice my perpetual youth, but with each day, the scientific principles became more and more complicated and I found myself unfit for innumerable jobs, so my position within the various industries became increasingly lower. I intended on studying, but there was no more room for new knowledge in my mind.

"I didn't remarry, for fear of seeing my family grow old and die, as had happened to me before.

"In 2112, Frank Leslie succeeded in his first voyage to Mars and the problem of colonizing new worlds arose again.

"Curiosity prompted me to take part in the second expedition to the planet. Despite my already antiquated knowledge, I was able to make a few improvements to the interplanetary ship, among other things, the almost total elimination of the heat generated by friction, and using the same by transforming this heat into internal energy for fuel, which was composed of lead that completely disintegrated, leaving no residue or emitting harmful radiation, since all the first exchanges were conducted in chambers completely opaque to radiation.

"At the beginning of 2116 we set off for Mars, where we arrived completely happy. All the necessary research and tests were conducted, and signs of life were found, though no inhabitants, which corroborated the reports from the first expedition.

"We were about to depart, when another ship from Earth passed over us, stopping a short distance away. They were undoubtedly trying to destroy us, as we were attacked and several members of our group were killed; I was wounded, as was another comrade: Chávez. The rest escaped in our ship leaving us for dead, while the enigmatic ship continued in pursuit.

"I don't know how long we remained unconscious, but when I came to, I could see that I was in an elliptical room, surrounded by individuals of short stature and strange appearance; they were Martians, who are now perfectly well known and whose habitations, as I later learned, were all found underground in order to withstand the sudden changes in temperature.

"My companion and I were treated with every kind of consideration. In a short time, we established a special dialect that allowed us to communicate with the Martians.

"The similarities in anthropology, biology and customs considerably facilitated our dealings with the strange inhabitants of Mars, allowing us to relate to them completely and become acquainted with their cities and civilization. We learned countless new things and taught them many more; in short, we performed real missionary work.

"Meanwhile, the Terrans had formed colonies on the surface; their contact with the Martians was almost non-existent and our existence completely unknown.

"Time passed and my companion died. I then began to think of ways to return to Earth, and it wasn't until much later, when taking advantage of a return trip, that I introduced myself to the Captain of some ship, to whom I told an imaginative story, and in this way I was able to obtain transport back to Earth.

"The first surprise I had was the time elapsed; it was the year 2184; then, there were countless new devices.

"All my belongings were recovered from the hands of a descendant of the person that I gave them to, after enumerating each and every object and upon presentation of a letter signed by myself, dated several years ago, according to which I authorized a son of mine (who was myself) to collect all the articles that were placed in deposit.

"Since then I've held various jobs, each time of a lower rank, until now I find myself as a simple laborer.

"I've seen wonderful, incredible advances; modern television, stereoscopic and in color, the extraordinary temporal retrovisor, the pocket telephone, personal heating, lighting with luminous fluids, etc.

"But as you know, the tilt of the earth's axis has increased considerably as the temperature changes become more and more intense as we approach another ice age, and my old body cannot withstand these changes. I also can't become become accustomed to an environment that seems so strange and of little comfort to me; I'm not from this time, but from several centuries ago.

"Precisely today, July 27th, 2220, I'm three hundred years old, I'm tired of life and I know that if I continue to live, I'll end up being of no service to anything; my youth is immutable, but I can die from a violent cause.

"I've told you all this because it's possibly the last time we'll be able to see one another."

The next day, the small roll of a talking newspaper that I bought at a vending machine said: "On the 1,210th floor of the Progress Building, the body of a laborer was found. It is unknown whether his death was due to an accident or suicide. The weapon used was an antique metal projectile pistol, which is a true museum piece. The curious thing is the enormous quanti-

[Translator's note: The story abruptly ends here, presumably due to a printing error chopping off the last line or two.]