Night had wrapped itself around them as they approached the coast of the Vladivostok Peninsula at 1722 hours. A sprinkle of lights appeared ahead of them, growing more intense to the right where Vladivostok sat along the bay. Winds buffeted the chopper the entire trip and Mark and Shosi, weren't looking too good. Robin talked to Kuro over the intercom. “Kuro, are you going to make it back to Toyama all right in this weather?” “Yes, we will make it back just fine. It takes very heavy weather to stop us from flying.” “How ’bout picking us up?” “Same thing. Get ready to push the RIB out. There is a patch of brush near the clearing you can reach by following the road I showed you on the satellite photos.” Robin moved back to the cargo area and began untying the lines securing the RIB. Mark started helping. “Hold on to those two lines, Mark and we'll lower the boat into the bushes Kuro hovers over.” Mark nodded. “Thirty seconds to go, Robin,” Kuro announced. Robin pulled the door latch and pushed the door open.
