Meanwhile, Long Tom worries over the fate of his injured wife Marlena, after the doctor informs him that he was disconnected from Doc Savage, thus losing his expert guidance at a crucial part of the operation….
Doc’s aides and cousin Pat, thinking Doc is dead, rush out into the street; Doc calls to them from atop the airship and has them board as the craft takes flight in pursuit of the enemy ship. Aboard the enemy ship, Monk attempts to escape but finds the craft too high to jump from. The mercenaries inform him he is not a hostage but the main target of the kidnapping. Doc’s craft pursues the enemy to the United Nations building where Secretary of State Shaw is attending a peace conference. The enemy soldiers fire on Doc’s ship, causing the Man of Bronze to nearly fall off as it starts to burst into flame.….
Elsewhere, the mastermind behind the attacks on Doc receives a call from The Dean, a criminal knowledge broker who has supplied the intel the villain needed to carry out his plot against Doc Savage. The Dean then excuses himself as his prize student is defending his dissertation in mass murder—which we see carried out as he poisons a Greek millionaire and his female companions aboard his yacht. [Revelation: The Dean is based at the Savage Institute for Criminal Rehabilitation—this is a set-up for the next story arc.]
Doc manages to climb to safety atop the craft and spies the Lord of Lightning’s weaponized floating platform. As the dirigible heads for a crash landing in the river, Doc leaps to the roof of the UN building where he sees Secretary Shaw in the hands of the enemy. Doc promises a rescue but Shaw orders his men to kill Doc. The Man of Bronze is felled by a shot to the head….