Spindle, The
Alien artifact discovered by Metasoft in 7432.
The Spindle is a tapered cylindrical object approximately one-half million kilometers in length and 10000km in diameter at its widest point. The artifact is constructed of magmatter and is rotating at approximately 0.96c. Approximately every 0.678 seconds an intense burst of gravitational energy is generated from each of the endpoints of the cylinder. Space-time in the vicinity of the Spindle is heavily distorted, making study of the object both hazardous and difficult. Theories about the origin and purpose of the Spindle range from a failed attempt to create a Tipler time machine to a beacon signaling some distant portion of the universe to a gateway into some hypothetical other continuum.