A visitor - excerpt from Karrik for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday . Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.
I’m posting from Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space. I skipped last week since I was visiting family in North Carolina. The previous week, somehow my post didn’t register at the WeWriWa site. You can read it at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/02/an-alien-water-world-excerpt-from.html
Brief recap: due to crippling battle injuries, Karrik is in a hospice on the aliens’ home world of Rishalt. My earlier posts introduced Karrik’s older brother Alarik and his human lover, Phoebe. Their story began in Book 4, Alarik . Alarik and Phoebe have arrived on Rishalt.
I’m jumping to the next scene with Karrik.
Karrik turned his head to gaze at the window. The upper section of the window was open to air the room and a gentle breeze caressed his face. The breeze carried the scents of herbs and flowers overlaid with salt and an occasional whiff of fish. It cooled his fevered brain and evoked his memories of the sea.
The window overlooked a courtyard enclosed by white walls. From his prone position in the hammock, he glimpsed wispy clouds in the cyan sky. The wind ruffled the leaves in the upper branches of shrubs, but metal bars in the lower pane obscured the flower beds. The swish of water hinted at the pond in the middle of the courtyard.
Nine sentences and a few more
Sometimes people visited the courtyard garden. He heard laughter and splashes. He wished he could join the happy people. But, they would despise him for his missing limbs and lack of speech. They would ignore him and whisper behind his back.
The door hissed open.
The cheery voice of one of the Pearl Sisters called, “Calm seas, Karrik. Wake up. You have a visitor today.” She walked to his hammock, raised his head onto the pillow and pulled the blanket up to his chest.
Some visitors were good. Others were not. They poked at his body and asked too many questions despite his inability to speak the answers. Which type was this visitor?

Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space: The fates of six people are at stake.
Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.
Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.
But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.
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Here’s a picture of Karrik and Rosie, the main romantic couple in this story. You can read about the tools I used to produce the image in my previous Blog Post .
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