The City Who Fought by Anne McCaffrey, S. M. Stirling

forward to a long and very useful life. But I'm human for all of that."
    "Very human," Channa replied in a droll voice.
    Simeon didn't quite like the implications, but at least she said the right things.
    "And you run the city?"
    "I do, having instantaneous access to every computerized aspect of such a large and multi-function space station as well as peripheral monitoring devices in a network to control traffic in and out."

    "I thought brains only ran ships," Joat said after a long pause.
    "Oh, some do, of course," Simeon said, slightly patronizing, "but I was specially chosen and trained for this demanding sort of work." He ignored the delicate snort from Channa that somehow reminded him he'd started out his management career in a less prestigious assignment. "Do you understand now that I am human?"
    "I guess so," was Joat's unenthusiastic reply. "You've been in that shell since you were a baby? "
    "Wouldn't be anywhere else," Simeon said proudly, letting his voice ring with a sincerity no shellperson ever had to counterfeit.
    There was a slightly longer pause. "Then it's not true, what I heard?" Joat began tentatively.
    "Depends on what you heard," Channa said, having learned in academy the long list of atrocities supposedly enacted.
    "That they put orphaned kids in boxes?"
    " Absolutely not! " Channa and Simeon chorused in loud unison.
    "That's totally inaccurate," Channa said firmly. "It's the sort of mean thing people say to scare kids, though. The program won't accept perfectly healthy bodies. To begin with, the medical costs and education are incredibly expensive. So is the maintenance for shellpersons. But it's better than depriving a sound mind of life because the body won't function normally. Don't you think so?"
    Silence greeted that query.
    "And if you've also heard the one about taking the brains from the homeless or displaced—no, that is definitely not permitted, either."
    "You're sure?"
    "Sure!" Simeon and Channa replied firmly.
    "And we should know," Channa went on. "I had to spend four years in academy to learn how to deal with shellpeople, of all types."
    Which, Simeon knew, was another backhanded slam at him. Did she never let up? One thing was sure, Joat's misinformation made him more determined than ever to adopt the boy and give him such security that that sort of macabre stuff would be forgotten.
    "And, no matter what sort of spaceflot you've been told, Central Worlds doesn't make slaves of people," Channa was saying at her most emphatic. "The very idea sends chills up my spine."
    "Not even criminals?"
    "Especially not criminals," Channa said with a little laugh. "With all the power available to a shellperson, you may be very sure Central Worlds makes certain that they are psychologically conditioned to a high ethical and moral standard."
    "What's this e'tical?" Joat asked.
    "Code of conduct," Simeon said, "probity, honesty, dedication to duty, personal integrity of the highest standard."
    "And you own this station?" Joat asked, his voice tinged with awe.
    Channa laughed in surprise at that assumption.
    "I wish," Simeon said fervently.
    "Remember my mentioning that creating and training a shellperson is expensive? I wasn't kidding. By the time Simeon graduated from training, he had an enormous debt to pay off to Central Worlds."
    "Hunh. Thought you said they weren't slaves."
    "They're not. Every shellperson has the right to pay off their debt and become a free agent. A good many shippersons do and then they own themselves. A management shellperson, like Simeon, will often get their debt picked up by a corporation, and when they've worked off the debt, they work under contract."
    "Are you paid off, Simeon?"
    "No, though my contract fee is generous enough. But, as I mentioned, I have hobbies . . ."
    "Like what?" Joat asked.
    "I've got a great sword and dagger collection which includes a genuine Civil War flag, a regimental eagle."
    "Hey, way cool! Got any guns ?"
    What is it with some males? Channa