Valkyrie flied by the last target and continued accelerating on the orbit leading to the Jovian home port. The high power engine motor avariciously consumed propulsive fuel only leaving the amount which needed to go back port by self-reduction. If there had been no order to destroy the guard cruiser as the third command from mother ship, he could go back in the latest time, because of the extra order, he had to turn and chase the enemy, which he once had let to go past, and to spend another 20 days voyage.
Valkylie established 12,000 km the closest distance with the enemy. Even if the enemy ship accelerate a little more, it was no problem. It could be say an ideal decisive battle distance. The possible time to shoot the enemy was short because the relative speed was too big, but it was enough for Valkylie. Even if the target had a little bit good defensive equipment than a transport ships, it might need less than 1 second to destroy it.
The target was approaching. The engine, which was ignited just a moment before, stopped now. Of course, it made no difference for Valkylie.
He pointed the laser cannon as he had did for other enemies at the approaching target. The prediction led by the infrared ray sensors told him that there was no indication of the attack by the enemy ship.
He began to charge the main cannon in order to start first salvo fire. The calculations and orders for bombardment were running about inside of the Valkylie's body. At the very moment,
The target suddenly exploded.
The infrared ray sensors of Valkylie caught so large quantity of infrared ray that was nearly the very limit line of tolerance level. Besides, the source of the infrared ray expanded in a moment and began to diffuse. And the target was swallowed in that diffusion.
Valkyrie came to the starting point of bombardment. The first salvo fire was made correctly on schedule. The effect was got after 0.1 second.
There was no hit. The second salvo fire, with no change of area of dispersion, was made.
Another 0.1 second has passed, and no hit was monitored. There was no hit while the third and fourth salvo fire had made.
When it made the tenth salvo fire, Valkyrie noticed that there was no space area to enclose with the pattern of primary gun dispersion. It had finished to bombard the area where the enemy must have been.
Valkyrie repeated the same action from beginning. He didn't have another program to chose. But he had been leaving the battle area before he finished another ten salvos. The distance to the enemy exceeded the one of practical shooting range. Valkyrie commanded.
Battle was finished. Change to the Cruising Mode.
The heat of Valkyrie's body was gradually fallen. He suppressed the generation of electromagnetic waves as he had did during the alerting term at the beginning and shifted to the long silent flight to the home port.
He might not be able to realize why he couldn't destroy the last target. The capacity to comprehend was not equipped to him essentially from the first.