Tractrix — R.J. Archer

When aerospace engineer and recent widower Frank Morton wins an $86 million 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 a mysterious black sphere inscribed with what appear to be Maya hieroglyphics. Intrigued, Frank convinces his buddy and two other friends, an anthropologist and a newspaper researcher, to help him investigate the origin and purpose of the sphere. Their search takes Frank and his 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 government agents, Mexican Federales and an ancient Maya priest. They also stumble across a three thousand year old secret that suggests a possible link between the shamans of Mesoamerica and a race of alien explorers.