 What is a Nilly?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, November 1959. Sure I'm a Nilly, and I've died seven times, always in the blackness of the outer reaches, and I'm not alone, although there aren't very many of us, never were. Still, it had an appeal Keith Ellason knew he couldn't deny, a newsman's joy of the clean beat, a planetary system far afield, a closeup view of the universe, history in the making. Interstellar Chief Rexroad knocked the dottle from his pipe in a tray, saying, "Transworld Press is willing to let you have a leave of abscence, if you're interested." The Weblor I had taken off on the first trip to Antheon five years before with a thousand families, reached the planet with less than five hundred surviving colonists. The decision of Interstellar was that the colonists started a revolution far out in space, that it was fanned by the ignorance of Captain Sessions in dealing with such matters. "We have conquered the problem of small groups in space—witness the discovery of Antheon, for example—but when there are large groups, control is more difficult." It ended with passengers engaging in open warfare with each other and the crew. "As I recall," Ellason said, "there was something about stunners." They utilized these attributes to set up weapon shops to arm themselves." Rexroad said very gravely, "We've got the finest captain in Interplanetary. We don't think anything is going to happen, but if it does, we want to get an impersonal, unprejudiced view. Being a Nilly is important, probably as important as running the ship, and I think it is this thought that keeps us satisfied, willing to be what we are. The Weblor II had been built in space, as had its predecessor, the Weblor I , at a tremendous cost. Basically, it was an instrument which would open distant vistas to colonization, reducing the shoulder-to-shoulder pressure of a crowded solar system. A gigantic, hollow spike, the ship would never land anywhere, but would circle Antheon as it circled Earth, shuttling its cargo and passengers to the promised land, the new frontier. A space-borne metropolis, it would be the home for three thousand persons outward bound, only the crew on the return trip. It was equipped with every conceivable facility and comfort—dining rooms, assembly hall, individual and family compartments, recreation areas, swimming pool, library, theater.
 A Nilly is a trained operative used by colony transport ships to keep the colonists focused on a common enemy.
 A Nilly is a trained operative used by colony transport ships to keep the colonists focused on a common enemy.  A Nilly is a person who works on the crew on an interstellar ship.  A Nilly is a black ops agent.  A Nilly is a person, who is able to come back from the dead, but like Lazarus, not like a zombie.