Peter is a refugee who wants to make a better life for himself in America, but he doesn't have the proper papers. Desperate for entry, he jumps ship and flees to New York to search for a World War II veteran whom he helped during the war.

Hungarian Peter Kuban has just arrived in New York City by stowing away on a ship from Trieste, he expecting to be able to claim refugee status in having spent the previous ten years including during WWII in one internment camp or another, and having saved an American paratrooper during the war at his own risk. However, without proper paperwork and only knowing that paratrooper's given name, Tom, and that in his civilian life is a clarinetist playing the clubs around Time Square, Peter is denied entry into the country, he to be sent back to Trieste on the return sailing first thing the next morning. Knowing that he will be killed if he returns, Peter escapes from the ship, his mission to locate "Tom" who he is sure will verify his story and vouch for him. What Peter is unaware of is that time is paramount in that if he is not back to the ship by the time it sails, regardless of if he finds Tom, he will be forever denied entry into the US in being considered a criminal fugitive. His task is made all the more difficult in that he sustained a serious injury in his escape and that he only has $8 in his pockets on which to survive. A front page newspaper story on his plight may both help and hinder him in some reacting in their own way to the story, those that may want to help him in his basic humanity such that he demonstrated to Tom in the war.—Huggo

Peter, a WW II 'displaced person' about to be deported, jumps ship in New York harbor in an effort to find an ex-G.I. named Tom whom he helped during the war and can prove Peter's right to legal entry in the United States. It is a race against time for if he can't find Tom within 24 hours and prove his case, he will be branded a fugitive and will be permanently disqualified for U.S. citizenship. His quest leads him to befriending Maggie, a down-on-her-luck factory worker whom he rejuvenates through his good faith, a visit to a jazz club where Shorty Rogers and his band and trombonist Jack Teagarden are playing, and an interlude with a good-hearted burlesque dancer, Tanya Zakoyla, takes him to her mother's home for food and rest.—Les Adams <[email protected]>