Persistent Pursuit [–Player to your right must move Operative’s Corvette 1 or 2 Sectors within Alliance, Border or Rim Space. --Keep Flying.] @Lordof1 please do that.
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
Cruiser Patrol [–Player to your right must move Alliance Cruiser 1 Sector within Alliance Space. --Keep Flying.] @Lordof1 again.
Cruiser Patrol [–Player to your right must move Alliance Cruiser 1 Sector within Alliance Space. --Keep Flying.] and again.
Unload 1 cargo. Job complete; Solid with Harken.
Pay is $600; I assume you’re paying the crew their $500, for $100 net gain.
There is a trick you can do when you finish a job at a supply planet: don’t pay the crew, so that they become Disgruntled, then do a cheaper Shore Leave with your next action. But in this case they’d be sitting Disgruntled until your next turn, and gmwhite999 or anyone else who arrived could hire them away from you.
For the most part, once you are Solid with someone, you can activate a special ability – in most cases when you Deal with them.
Harken - you can buy Fuel at the Cruiser. (Also ignore the Customs Inspection nav card.)
Amnon Duul - at Space Bazaar, you can load Passengers and Fugitives without limit.
Patience - Consider 4 jobs rather than 3 when Dealing with her.
Badger - Pay $1,000 to clear all warrants (normally $1,000 each).
Mr. Universe - +2 inactive jobs, can Deal with him from anywhere.
Lord Harrow - +$500 every time you complete a Shipping or Smuggling job.
Mingo & Fanty - +$500 every time you complete a Transport job.
Magistrate Higgins - +1 active job.
Niska offers no special ability – that space on the card is occupied by the reminder that if you get a Warrant while working one of his jobs, you also have to kill one of your Crew. (But that applies whether or not you were Solid with him.)
Also with many of the contacts you can sell surplus cargo or contraband:
Cargo
Contra
Amnon Duul
600
500
Badger
400
700
Patience
500
600
Niska
400
800
Lord Harrow will sell you cargo for $300, and Mingo & Fanty will sell contraband for $400. (Which can be quite handy if you’ve lost what you need to finish a job. Similarly Amnon Duul’s passenger/fugitive supply ability.)
Note that this gives you a non-job way of making money: be solid with M&F and Badger, then buy contra from M&F and sell it to Badger. But it takes a lot of setting up.
1 fuel used. Not an Outlaw Ship so moving into the Cruiser won’t be a problem for you.
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
Customs Inspection [Option 1: Prepare to be Boarded!: --Contraband & Fugitives not in your Stash are seized. --Full Stop.] [Option 2: Turn and Burn!: --Spend 1 Fuel. --Warrant Issued. --Evade.]
If you Evade you can land at Valentine for makework, or go one sector from Silverhold so that you can safely mosey in next turn – but you may not think it’s worth it.
Better stop then. I just passed their cruiser, and I’m sure I was subjected to a full scan going by. You’d think these Alliance morons would have better things to do than bother honest traders like myself.
@RogerBW asked for a die roll: Turn 4.4 Burgess and Bonanza DJCT has a CO.
4.4.1 Fly
Full burn, one fuel used.
(Alliance Space)
Passenger Unrest [Option 1: Keep it Quiet Down There!: Requires Soldier: --Keep Flying.] [Option 2: Fisticuffs in the Hold!: --Roll a Dice: If your roll is lower than the total of Passenger and Fugitive Tokens on your ship, discard a number equal to your roll. --Keep Flying.] you have no passengers/fugitives so this is not a problem for you
(Border Space)
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
Patience’s Posse [Option 1: We Got a History…: Requires Solid with Patience: --Keep Flying.] [Option 2: Shanghai Surprise!: Talk 7 Talk 1-6 [Fight 8 1-7 Kill a Crew. Full Stop. 8+ Full Stop,] 7+ Take 1 Crew from Regina’s Discard Pile. Keep Flying.]
Not Solid with Patience, so it’s option 2. d6+2: 8 vs 7
That’s high enough to avoid the fight (would actually have been higher, since you roll again and add on a 6, but my roller doesn’t support that yet), and you gain:
The Specialist ($300, , , , Soldier, Firearm, Sniper Rifle, Wet Work: May not Carry Gear.) (C-R)
(You may if you prefer dismiss him at once, since you’re in a planetary sector, but since you have Tracey he doesn’t make you any more illegal.)
4.4.2 Work
Start:
Big Black cattle drive [Shipping from Kerry, Georgia (4 CA) to Bellerophon, White Sun (4 CA)] [$1800, Companion +500] [Needs ] (P)
Atherton, finally tired of his love bot, is burning over to Osiris and er having a little sort of pop at boarding @Scribbs ship. I’m really Sorry, Mal. Business is business. But If it’s any consolation it will almost definitely go tits up for me.
Persistent Pursuit [–Player to your right must move Operative’s Corvette 1 or 2 Sectors within Alliance, Border or Rim Space. --Keep Flying.] (@gmwhite999 that’s for you)
The Big Black [Keep Flying!]
4.6.2 Work
A message from Niska [Illegal Piracy on Rival not Solid with Niska (All Goods/Kill 1, Warrant)] [$200/G] [Boarding Test 6] (N)
Now there’s a trick here, which is that Mal can see you coming and shift all his goods to the stash (and isn’t carrying more than will fit). So you won’t actually gain anything by the piracy, except for being Solid with Niska, and this isn’t one of the games where being Solid gains you much. That in mind, what do you want to do?
Fully Equipped Med Bay ($600, May re-roll Medic Checks.) (SU-O) Alliance Body Armor ($400, , If Crew carrying Armor is Killed, roll: 1-3: Crew is Killed. 4-6: Crew is not Killed.) (G-O) Electronic Defense Suite ($800, Rivals boarding your ship may not use Skill for Boarding Tests. Spend 1 Fuel to Evade Reaver Cutter. Ignore the effects of either the Reaver Cutter Nav Card or Contact Event.) (SU-O)
(Remember that each installed upgrade drops your Range by 1.)
, 
, 
, Soldier, Firearm, Sniper Rifle, Wet Work: May not Carry Gear.) (C-R)