The tip of a deep red sunrise is staining the sky by the time twelve-year-old Freddy and his friend, Mike, chain their bikes to a coconut palm next to the beach. Anxious to try out his father's new metal detector, Freddy is disheartened when, after hours of searching, he and Mike have nothing to show for it but six cents, a nail, and some bottle caps--and then Mike unexpectedly announces that he has found something.

The boys discover a small circular object beneath the sand, a strange disc covered in weird symbols. But when Freddy's brother, Rick, shows up and snatches the shiny...