Oculama

Daughter of a wealthy family, Mariette has blown her entire inheritance on a heavily armed space ship for the purpose of hunting down pirates. For personal reasons. The 'Dear John' is not crewed by any other sentient creatures: Instead, Mariette has the Bonfis, small creatures made from goo, controlled by a AI hivemind. The Bonfis can pilot the ship, do maintenance, and other skills needed to keep the ship running. However, otherwise they have the intelligence and personality of a golden retriever.