Cal Bradley just wants his life to be normal. He wants to complete his history project, not travel back in time and become part of it. He dreams of being Most Valuable Player for his middle school basketball team, not causing his rival never to have been born. And he longs to forget about the eighteenth-century pirate he and his friend, Anthony, accidentally caused to time-travel, not risk his life to save him.

But the old wooden box with the gold medallion from an ancient South American treasure site has other plans for him, taking him on a journey he never could have imagined. Along the way, Cal learns about himself, about helping friends, about taking responsibility. And he discovers that even enemies are people, too.