It's 1945, and 16-year-old Terry dreams of waiting tables at the Airlines Hotel in Gander, 'Gateway to the World at War!' When his mother becomes ill and their house is quarantined, Terry conjures up a fantasy hotel world to keep his fears at bay, complete with a spy mystery and a romance with the vivacious Laurie Dwyer. But with a war outside and death upstairs, Terry must choose between boyhood fantasies or confronting life's hard truths.