Felidae: I just sat on my butt for hours playing P2 last weekend, so allow me to help.
When you buy a ship on Hermes, leave the planet and go to Crius in order to talk to Dr. Loomis. Then you can fly around and get some cash after that and eventually you'll receive an e-mail from Dr. Loomis (or Xavier Shondi) and you should return to Crius after that in order to do what Loomis tells you and/or talk to Shondi. And then you can go from there...
Kain: Make sure you have Invul. and Unlimited Ammo OFF. I've made the same mistake; you won't get paid with these features on. Also, don't land anywhere until you've completed a mission, or it will be labled a failure. Hope that helps.
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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!