Free Razor's Edge: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) by Martha Wells

that Metara professed not to be able to survive with this ship and her loyal well-trained crew must be like a slap in the face. But Leia would have preferred him to stay out of the conversation, mostly because she was worried enough about her own penchant for sarcasm and didn’t have the time at the moment to worry about Han’s..
    â€œThat’s what we did at first,” Kelvan told him. “We also hired out as a picket ship for small trading posts, but …” He glanced at Metara again. “We encountered Imperials.”
    Leis suspected that “encountered Imperials” was a diplomatic way to describe whatever had happened. She had dealt with her own overwhelming moments of rage after Alderaan, though watching the Death Star be destroyed had helped. She suspected that what Kelvan meant was that Captain Metara had let her rage come before the good of her crew and ship.
    â€œWe wanted peace, but it turned out we wanted revenge more,” Metara said.
    Yes, there’s that “we” again.
“So you were recognized and attacked as an Alderaanian ship?” Leia asked. “Or you fired on Imperial ships?” She was certain now that she knew what had happened. Metara had stepped up as a strong leader, a source of security and stability at a time when everything familiar and safe had been wrenched away in the most painful way possible. The crew would have drawn closer together, formed even tighter bonds and more intimate relationships than before. Metara wasn’t the captain of this ship—she was the head of a family. She might listen to the others’ opinions, but the final decision was hers, and they wouldn’t go against her. This was going to be even more difficult than Leia had anticipated. And it wasn’t as if she had ever thought it would be easy.
    Metara ignored Leia’s questions. “We discovered the local Imperial governor had trading concerns, and we attacked the freighters he owned. After that, we had to leave the area. We came here … because we had heard there were opportunities to strike at Imperial shipping.”
    Leia hadn’t heard of much Imperial shipping in this part of the Mid Rim. If there had been, the Empire would have a larger presence here and the local traders wouldn’t be such easy prey for pirates. Before she could reply, Kifar said, “That merchant you hit is from an agricultural trader. How is that striking at Imperial shipping?”
    He was right, but Leia didn’t need any help, and she didn’t want anyone changing the subject but her. She caught his eye, and he leaned back, his mouth grim.
    Metara frowned, but not at Kifar. It was clear the merchant ship was a sore point, but Leia couldn’t tell why. She didn’t think it was the moral failure that concerned Metara. Metara said, “That is in the nature of an obligation.”
    Leia lifted her brows. “Attacking the ship was an obligation?” She didn’t like the sound of that. “How?”
    A ship’s alarm rang out over the comm system, and everyone flinched. Metara pushed to her feet and moved a few steps away to take a comlink out of her jacket pocket. Leia watched Metara speak quietly and then listen to the answer. Terae and Kelvan watched their captain worriedly. Han leaned over and whispered to Leia, “If it’s that Imperial corvette, we could be in trouble.”
    Sian and Kifar leaned in to listen, Kifar frowning. If it
was
the corvette, that meant someone who knew their movements was reporting to the Imperials. There was no other way the Imperial ship could have found them again so quickly. Leia started to say, “If it is—”
    Metara turned around and said, “Please excuse me a moment, Your Highness.” She jerked her chin at Terae and Kelvan, who both stood and hurriedly followed Metara as she strode out through the forward door.
    The door sealed behind her, and Han, Kifar, and