The Martian Chronicles

On his way to a party in Mars’s blue hills, Tomás Gomez stops for gas at a lonely service station and speaks with the man behind the counter, who he calls Pop. Pop claims he came to Mars because every aspect of it is different from Earth, suggesting that even time acts differently on Mars. He criticizes the attempts to recreate Earth on Mars. Pops believes that people shouldn’t ask Mars “to be nothing else but what it is” (105), and Gomez agrees. Happy after the interaction, Gomez sets out on the night road. 

Gomez next stops in an abandoned Martian town, noting, “there was a smell of Time in the air” (105). He considers the Martian ruins perfect, and another mile down the road spends a contemplative moment surveying the landscape with happiness. To his surprise, a Martian operating an insect-like vehicle appears, and the two warmly greet one another. The Martian introduces himself as Muhe Ca.

When they attempt to exchange items, Gomez and Muhe discover that they are on different physical planes, and each assumes the other is a ghost. Despite this, they are on similar trajectories. Each hopes to attend a party and flirt with women. Muhe has no memory of the human arrival and claims the Martian towns are still filled with Martians, and he is unable to see any human construction on the planet’s surface. Gomez claims the opposite, human settlements are populated, while Martian cities are destitute. Each agrees that one is living in the past and one is living in the future, but they cannot decide which is which. After declaring that each would like to attend the other’s party, Gomez and Muhe part as friends.