The Player of Games (Culture, #2)

by Iain M. Banks

He had a sudden, paranoid idea. He turned to Chamlis urgently. “These friends of yours are ships.” “Yes,” Chamlis said. “Both of them.” “What are they called?” “The Of Course I Still Love You and the Just Read the Instructions.” “They’re not warships?” “With names like that? They’re GCUs; what else?”