Imagine being in a state so extreme (for whatever reason) that you feel the need to die, and in that state finding you have to deal with the court system. What a nightmare on top of a nightmare. I feel for all parties in this situation. Sometimes all options just painfully and intolerably suck.

Yeah, most Cherryh is not ship-and-crew in the sense you are talking about (though I loved the duct-tape feel of the ships in Heavy Time, iirc). Rimrunners might be the closest to what you are looking for though. And yep, it is Union-Alliance. For Cherryh, I guess maybe The Pride of Chanur would be ship-and-crew adventure? I can’t quite remember as it was long, long, long ago I read that stuff – who knows how well its aged. It’s cover doesn’t look super compelling to me these days. So I’m not recommending it. Ha ha.

I’m feeling a little old school tonight so I’m going to boost Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh. May say #3 in a series, but all the books stand alone (they just share the same universe).