From the personal journal of Osman Bey:
Friday, Supet 29th, Ascension -22:
Laboratory Director Zurdu is safe, for the moment. With Father's Holy Writ in hand, and a squad of Immortals at my side, there was not much the Castigators could do to impede me. I doubt High Castigator Aleppo will dare to directly oppose my father's authority over this matter, and in any event I have assigned bodyguards from amongst the Immortals to ensure Zurdu's safety.
Monday, Occobu 2nd, Ascension -22:
Despite last week's events, research goes on. Prof. Duranu intends to superheat the hydrocollider core prior to injection. He hopes to generate a stable, high-temperature Neutronium plasma. Unfortunately, I failed to complete my work last week, and the entire experiment now waits for me.
Wednesday, Occobu 4th, Ascension -22:
An odd result today. The detectors failed to register a single free neutron in the hydrocollider. To be certain, some type of plasma was formed, but it certainly wasn't the Neutronium cloud we were looking for. Duranu, Corbo, and I remain in the lab for now, studying the results.
Friday, Occobu 6th, Ascension -22:
Five additional tests have replicated the data from our first trial. It appears this plasma is an additional stable form of TNE. For now, it has been given the reporting name of Mercassium, after Prof. Corbo's primary research assistant, Mercassi. Gradual cooling of Mercassium results in a phase shift to a gas which quickly dissipates, but a crash-freeze with liquid nitrogen created a gelatinous mass. Corbo and Mercassi continue to experiment on the 'blob'.
Wednesday, Occobu 16th, Ascension -22:
The lab is a mess. It appears that Prof. Burglu sought additional quantities of Tritanium for his experiments, and attempted to produce it on his own, after hours. Instead, his efforts generated a slightly-different substance... and a small explosion. It will take weeks to repair the damage to the hydrocollider.
The new substance show many similarities to Tritanium, but in a more stable form. The lab personnel voted unanimously to name this new substance after Prof. Burglu's long-suffering research assistant, rather than the professor himself. Dr. Vendar was thrilled, and said she can't wait to get out of the hospital and back to work. In the mean time, Prof. Duranu has appointed me to run the the Vedarium Investigation Team, with strict instructions to keep Prof. Burglu as far away as possible. The South Polar Research Station is oft-noted as being 'the right distance'.
Monday, Occobu 21st, Ascension -22:
Repairs to the hydrocollider proceed on schedule. The V.I.T. has had great success in exo-atmospheric applications. It seems a small amount of Vendarium, added to Tritanium, produces a much more stable burn than the explosive Tritanium alone. Combined with the thermal insulation abilities of Vendarium it seems we have found a winning combination for endo-exo-atmospheric craft.
Tuesday, Occobu 22nd, Ascension -22:
For some reason, the computerized records have all been altered to read 'Vendarite' instead of 'Vendarium'. Prof. Corbo suspects a student prank, but I wonder if the Office for the Purity of the Faith has been poking around. Laboratory Directory Zurdu passed me a confidential report, by way of the Immortals, confirming that Corbomite, Tritanium, Boronide, and Uridium have all been found in the Starliner's hull in significant quantities. Tomorrow I shall have the Immortals pass him a report detailing all the information we've found so far about TNEs.
Wednesday, Occobu 30th, Ascension -22:
The monthly staff meeting was a bit more lively than usual, mainly due to the presence of both Prof. Duranu and Prof. Burglu. At one point I was sure they'd come to blows. It appears the hydrocollider will be fully repaired next week. Prof. Duranu's motion that the entire cost of the repair be deducted from Prof. Burglu's salary was soundly defeated, but the look in Burglu's eyes when the old goat proposed it was priceless.
Wednesday, Novubu 7th, Ascension -22:
Final tests were run today on the hydrocollider, and it passed with full scores. Tomorrow we attempt to reproduce Vendarite, hopefully without the explosion this time.
Friday, Novubu 9th, Ascension -22:
Our Vendarite production was finally successful. Good thing, too, because a couple more failures and Prof. Duranu might have been forced to 'consult' with Prof. Burglu on his technique. I'm not sure either man would have survived the process.
Monday, Novubu 12th, Ascension -22:
Prof. Burglu proudly invited most of the department down to observe the first test flight of his 'A-Craft', a small, remote-controlled Tritanium-Vendarite craft he plans to fly out of the atmosphere, orbit Alzarius, and return to a controlled landing. Prof. Duranu's invitation must have been lost in the mail, as he failed to observe the test flight.
In Prof Burglu's defense, the A-Craft's flight profile went exactly as predicted until it exploded. Preliminary reports suggest the Tritanium fuel repository ruptured in microgravity.
Thursday, Novubu 22nd, Ascension -22:
Prof. Burglu's B-Craft flew yesterday. Once again, the flight was on-profile right up to the moment it exploded.
Friday, Novubu 23rd, Ascension -22:
Another new substance in the hydrocollider today. The dense metal has heat-retention factor that is an incredible seven one-hundredths that of air itself. A metal able to redistribute and radiate heat that quickly will revolutionize engine construction. Prof. Duranu initially offered to call the metal Osmium in my honour, but understood my reasons for declining. We settled on Gallicite, after his wife, Gallicia.
Saturday, Deca 15th, Ascension -22:
Prof. Burglu launched his C-Craft today. It exploded shortly after leaving atmosphere.
Tuesday, Jurgu 2nd, Ascension -21:
A new year, and with it, new promise. Prof. Duranu and Corbo remain hard at work, seeking a stable form of Neutronium. Their lastest attempt involves turning the hydrocollider into a helicollider, and applying a continuous electrical current to the collision chamber. In the mean time I am dealing with the implications of Laboratory Director Zurdu's latest secret report. It seems that every single trans-neutronium element we have discovered is present in the hull of the Starliner. Thousands of tons of each of them. Including element X, an element that Zurdu believes is Neutronium, or at least a Neutronium alloy.