OldDawg wrote: I thought the adventurers were going to Mesa Verde (or close by) but I don't remember any definite signs that they actually went there.
Paul has said that they are near Mesa Verde.
Given that what has taken us a couple of weeks to observe actually took a very short time to happen, from the time Kath met Atsali in the Library to now, I'm a little cornfuzzled about how Brandi (or anyone) could have set it all up. The only way I can see is if Atsali herself is some sort of agent who has guided Kath through all of this. And even then, it is a huge assumption that they would survive the mine explosion and being launched through the air to crash in the exact right spot. They were almost killed as it was (at least Kath was). Very shaky planning on Brandi's part, if it was her.