When aerospace engineer and recent widower Frank Morton wins a large lottery jackpot, he decides to retire and devote his time to a life-long interest in ancient mysteries. Coincidently, an old Viet Nam buddy shows up with strange black sphere inscribed with what appear to be Maya hieroglyphics. Intrigued, Frank convinces his buddy and two other friends to help him investigate the origin and purpose of the sphere.

Their search takes Frank and friends on a journey from Seattle to the secret military installations of Nevada and on to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Along the way, they become involved in a murder investigation and attract the unwanted attention of U.S. government agents, the Mexican Federales and an ancient Maya shaman. They also stumble onto a three-thousand-year-old secret that suggests a possible link between the shamans of Mesoamerica and a race of alien explorers.