“Because when it works, it works really well,” Thalias said, feeling a twinge of sympathy. When she was Che’ri’s age, the officers and caregivers would never answer her questions about things like this. Only later had she learned they’d been forbidden to talk to sky-walkers about these details.

Probably still were, actually, which meant Thalias would likely get in trouble if anyone found out about this. But she could remember feeling terrified during her ships’ battles as she sat alone with her caregiver and wondered what was going on.

Knowing how the ship’s weapons worked might not be much comfort. But then again, it might.

“If the missile gets close enough before the enemy’s lasers hit it, the acid will keep going as a big glob,” she continued. “Pretty hard to shoot down a glob of liquid. Electrostatic barriers can’t do much to slow it down, either, so when it hits it starts eating into the metal of the hull.”

“So it opens the hull to space?”

“Not unless the hull is very thin or has already been damaged,” Thalias said. “But it can destroy any sensors or fire-control systems and corrode any communications links that cross the area. Even better, from our point of view, it blackens the hull metal and creates pits, both of which help the metal underneath absorb the next batch of spectrum laser fire we put there.”

“And that opens the hull to space?”

“It absolutely can,” Thalias said. “It won’t wreck the whole ship, of course—you’ve seen how many emergency bulkheads the Springhawk has down the passageways. But it’s a warning to the enemy ship that we have the upper hand.”

There was another double-clunk, farther away this time. “What happens if one of these pieces hits the viewport?” Che’ri asked.

“Probably nothing,” Thalias said. “The point defenses around the bridge are pretty good, and there are blast shields that can be raised if they see something big coming. And the viewport material itself is pretty strong and thick.”

“I mean, it’s nice being able to see outside when we’re flying somewhere,” Che’ri mused. “But I always worry that we’ll run into something.”

“It’s a risk,” Thalias conceded. “But the viewports aren’t just because we like looking at the stars. There are lots of ways that sensors and electronics can be damaged or distracted or confused. The bridge officers need to be able to actually see what’s going on out there. There are also a couple of triangulation observation areas where other warriors can help aim and focus our attacks.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Che’ri peered closely at her. “How come no one’s ever told me this before?”

“They’re not supposed to,” Thalias admitted. “Actually, there are a lot of things they’re not supposed to tell sky-walkers.”

“Yeah.” Che’ri made a face. “They treat me like a—” She broke off.