Strange Visitors
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Ships on the Horizon
In general, Los Angeles has an open, non-return border in the Pacific. The exact location of the "edge" is uncertain, however the Navy patrols a 25 mile zone along the edge, and maintains a significant presence to aid coastal shipping and defend in the event of an "incident."
Periodically, vessels from "somewhere else" call on Los Angeles. In 1950, the Supertanker Marine Pacific I, one of the largest vessels ever built, called on Los Angeles. While impressed by this "wonder from the future," the Navy was practical enough to rig a temporary dock, and the City Fathers made attractive offers to the crew and captain to operate in the service of Los Angeles. With a mixed crew of original veterans and Los Angelenos, Marine Pacific I made four voyages between 1950-54, calling at a port in Indonesia which had an oil refinery. On the 1953 voyage, a submarine was sighted, and the sub maneuvered on Marine Pacific I for over forty hours, but never surfaced or attacked. Opinions are divided as to whether the vessel was a Soviet Diesel Submarine, or a sub of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Marine Pacific I never returned from its fifth voyage. Opinions are still out as to whether the vessel was sunken, or merely found some more stable Thread from which to operate.
Other sightings off the coast of Los Angeles include several large warships of different periods and nationalities, usually American, but also including German, British, Japanese and Soviet (identified from the Jane’s carried by Marine Pacific I). Sailing ships are spotted frequently, and one vessel sighted in 1965 may have been a part of Francis Drake’s squadron. In 1968, the Long Beach based U.S.S. PC-474, a 450 ton, 21 knot patrol ship, lost power, was blown across the thread boundary, and foundered. Eight surviving crew were rescued by a medieval Chinese junk, and after they engaged in extended "pointee talkee" discussions with the Captain, he agreed to attempt to return them to Los Angeles. The junk docked on September 4, 1968, and brought greetings from the Chinese Admiral Zheng and the Ming Emperor of China. They appeared to have sailed from China about 1421. The Chinese were feted throughout the City and presented with rich gifts during a two week visit. They were never seen again.
Other, more sinister, vessels have been sighted. In December of 1969, twelve vast ships, the largest of which was observed to be over 1600 feet in length, were sighted about 21 miles inside the zone of uncertainty. The vessels had turrets and protrusions that suggested a military purpose, but had a construction more similar to giant container ships. Upon sighting the air arm, the vessels turned rapidly out to sea and were never seen again.
Periodically, vessels from periods from the 1870s to the early 21st century have drifted into Los Angeles. A software engineer who sailed from Santa Catalina in 2011 on a vacation trip arrived off Santa Monica in 1987, and immediately rose to substantial heights in United Fruit after a fierce bidding war by rival Corps.
The port at Long Beach is the only one known before Restoration Day which could service any ship known to have been afloat at the time of the crisis. The original port was capable of accommodating full sized carriers, however it was enlarged not too long after the crisis to accommodate the supertanker Marine Pacific I.
