Walta is in the engine room, looking at panels of dials and gauges, covered in grease.

"-Uh, you probably shouldn't be back here by yourself, but thanks for telling me about dinner. I'm about done with this. I can wash up and come eat in maybe ten minutes. Looking forward to it."

"Techinically, the Captain's rules are that I can't be here without him or his assistant. But I'll leave before either of us gets in trouble." She pauses, takes a deep breath and says.

"Can we talk later? In private?" just as she's about to leave.

"I mean, right here is as private as anywhere else on the ship if Cap'n isn't here. But okay?"

"I don't want to get us in trouble. You are supposed to be working."

"Maybe I hit a snag and it's taking longer than I expected. But sure, later, then."

Sandra will go back to the kitchen and get the chili ready to serve.

The captain stops the ship above another small floating island and rappels out the side to tie it down securely.

When he comes into the kitchen to find Walta looking at the chili, he says, "...Miss Hindenset, you can put the rest of that manifold rebuild off for a couple of days. No watch tonight either, we're set down. And, my, this does smell new and interesting."

"Ah, thanks, sir. I actually had a question for you about the manifold but it can wait. And, this stuff is good! I had a taste earlier. I think you'll like it. Shall we serve it up, Sandra?"

"Yes, indeed. It turned out quite well. I hope you like it.." She then proceeds to serve Walta and Nick.  

Walta enjoys the chili a lot more than Nick!

...Though the prickly captain does nod thoughtfully at the meal, appearing a bit lost in thought. "Could use more meat and maybe more salt. Too bad meat is so pricey compared to beans and such."

Sandra is quite pleased Walta likes it! She didn't really expect anything else from the Captain.

"Can't do much about the meat. I'll try adding more salt next time."

"I do have more meat, if I'd known this was going to need more I would have said you could use it. Next time, you can, in fact."

"Then it's a success, now we know and can fix it, make it better! I'm not the best cook, but I'm learning more and more."

"Cooking is a skillful and noble profession! If you keep making things like this for us we'll enjoy much better food than we usually do."

"I'm glad I got to make your lives better. That's why we exist, in my view, make the lives of others better than they could be alone." She glances briefly at Nick, but quickly moves her gaze.

"There are many valid philosophies on the meaning of life," Nick opines. "I think I hold a different one but I certainly won't begrudge yours. It's admirable."

Sandra is very proud that she doesn't drop her smile. "I think we'll have to agree to disagree, as I quite like mine very much. Everything should live in harmony."

"It's not impossible that I can profit while also benefiting others. But, agreeing to disagree, yes."

Walta glances between the two of them, looking slightly nervous.

She nods, sees Walta's nervous glance and gives a disarming smile. "I can't convert everyone!" She says with a gentle laugh.

"Being nice and having friends is good and all, but I don't know about it being the meaning of life. People can be... Bad, sometimes."

"But are they bad by nature, or because they never got the help they needed to be good? I know plenty of people who did bad things for a bit, but they got better and tried to help everyone they could."

"True enough." The other two go quiet after this, just enjoying the food.

Sandra is also quiet and her bowl is getting quite empty. "It was very nice to have dinner with you both."