Swamped

Unfortunately, you don't get a lot of ideas. So your best bet is to get some more information.

"Let's start by taking a look over by the kitchen door. We can see if they've got anyone watching it, for a start. And if they don't, we can try knocking on it to get the cook's attention. We've even got a perfectly good reason to ask some questions, so maybe we can get a peek inside while we're talking."

"Seems good to me," Lex agrees. "I'll do the talking and you keep an eye out."

You walk over to the kitchen door. As it turns out, there's a sailor standing guard.

But not just any sailor. It's Colleen. You've had plenty of shifts with her, and they were usually slow enough that you had time to talk. So you know her fairly well. That means you might have a chance to talk your way past.

"Colleen!" you say excitedly. "Been a while, hasn't it? Did you finish that poem you were working on yet?"

"Nah," she grumbles. "Been busier than I expected. People keep asking me for help with these little things, and I can never bring myself to say no."

"Is that why you're standing here, then? Doing someone a favor?"

"Something like that," she says noncommitally. "Ain't you got any work to do, Sally?"

"Actually, yeah," Lex cuts in. "That's why we're here. We need to talk to the cook to get our job done, but they won't let us into the galley."

"Well, the cook's real busy. You'd probably be better off waiting for Lou's party to finish. Shouldn't be more than a couple of hours."

Hmm. She's friendly enough, but she's not very helpful. Maybe you need to adjust your approach a little bit.