On January 14, 1941, Winston Churchill wakes in the bombproof annexe at No. 10 looking seriously ill, his lingering cold having turned into bronchitis. Clementine Churchill, worried because Churchill still intends to travel that day to Scapa Flow to bid farewell to Lord Halifax and Lady Halifax before Halifax leaves for Washington, summons Sir Charles Wilson. Wilson urges Churchill to cancel the trip because of his illness and the blizzard conditions in the north, but Churchill angrily refuses, so Clementine insists that Wilson accompany him instead.

At the station, Churchill's large special train reflects both the scale of his entourage and the elaborate arrangements that let him govern while traveling. The official reason for the journey is to see Halifax off, but Wilson suspects Churchill also wants to visit the fleet at Scapa Flow. A crowd gathers because so many prominent figures are recognizable, and ministers including Beaverbrook and Eden come to say goodbye. Lady Halifax is especially unhappy, since neither she nor Halifax wanted the Washington posting and she distrusts Beaverbrook's role in it.

Harry Hopkins arrives at the last moment and joins the party, underscoring how important Churchill considers the president's envoy. During the journey north, the atmosphere is sociable: Clementine jokes with Halifax, and General Lee observes Halifax's ignorance of the War of 1812. After dinner, Churchill stays up until two in the morning despite his bronchitis, talking history and politics with great energy. His performance is partly strategic, because Hopkins is the first close Roosevelt representative Churchill feels he can fully engage and impress.

The next morning, the train is stopped short of Thurso because of a derailment ahead, leaving the party stranded in a fierce snowstorm on a desolate, frozen landscape. Hopkins finds the scene bleak, but Churchill, though hoarse and visibly sick, appears cheerful, drinks brandy at breakfast, and looks forward to getting onto the water. He excitedly discusses an experimental anti-aircraft rocket weapon he hopes to test at Scapa Flow; when told each firing costs about £100, he reluctantly agrees, after Clementine's intervention, to fire it only once. The chapter ends by signaling that this planned demonstration will go badly.