'Lineage' Script?

With the infamous 'Shattered' script just days away from being proved fake or genuine, astonishingly enough, another potential Voyager script has come to light, this time of 'Lineage', the episode set to air in two weeks time. Unlike the 'Shattered' script, however, the purported 'Lineage' script does not yet seem to have appeared on the web itself yet, rather, circulating thus far solely by e-mail. While, like the script before, there can be no conclusive proof of it's validity until the episode is shown, it does fit within what we know of the plot of the episode so far. We've again provided an in-depth summary of the script below, in addition to couple of points for those who are willing to risk a few spoilers, but not the entire episode. Please note again that we can not guarantee the validity of the script and, by extension, the summary and spoilers.

• B'Elanna's child will be female, and apparently she and Tom have been trying for a baby for some time now. Tom would like to have two or three children.
• Harry will be seen playing the saxophone for the first time
• The baby suffers from a hereditary spine defect that both B'Elanna and her mother before her had.
• In something of an unusual twist, The Doctor will be the baby's godfather.

Synopsis:

We start off in Engineering, on the lower level, with B'Elanna in an unusually good mood. She exchanges some banter with a crewman and then caches the lift up to the second level where Seven is teaching Icheb something. Spying the pair, B'Elanna's mood instantly changes and she demands to know what Icheb's doing up there. Seven starts to defend him against B'Elanna when the half Klingon becomes dizzy and faints shortly thereafter. Icheb quickly scans the unconscious Lieutenant and, to their surprise, detects a 'parasite'. Seven makes her own scans and then calls the Doctor – B'Elanna is pregnant.

Act one begins in Sickbay, where the Doctor explains that both B'Elanna and the baby, which is about 7 weeks along, are in good health – it was just a clash between her human and Klingon metabolisms. It's common and not really anything serious, but B'Elanna can expect some "behavioural volatility" and "increased nutritional needs". The Doctor congratulates them on beating the odds for a Human/Klingon pregnancy and informs them that the usual gestation period is 30 weeks, though with a mixed species it's likely it will actually be shorter. Paris asks if they can know the sex but B'Elanna says she wants to be surprised and doesn't want to 'label' the child this early, so Tom concedes. Together, Tom and B'Elanna head out into the corridor, still trying to absorb the news and soon come to realize what a big impact it will make on their lives. They re-assure each other that they're happy about what's happening and then, after deciding to keep a lid on it for as long as possible, head on their separate ways.

Tom's first stop is the Messhall, where he's greeted by a round of applause and an enthusiastic Neelix. It turns out that Icheb let the cat out of the bag. Neelix assumes instantly that he'll be the godfather, since he has "experience with Naomi Wildman you know". Tom is touched but not exactly sure about his offer, but tells him that he "can't think of anyone more qualified". The Talaxian, apparently, has been preparing a list of names...

Meanwhile, in Engineering, Chakotay's also heard the news through the grapevine, opening the conversation up with one seriously bad joke:

"Have you checked the warp core for radiation leaks today?"
"No, why?"
"You have a certain "glow" about you."

We jump back to Tom again, who's ambushed by Harry in another corridor. Kim teases him a bit over the changes in his life – no more racing in the flyer, etc. Then Harry asks, kidding aside, what it feels like, and Tom says it really hasn't sunk in yet.

Again we cut scenes, this time to a vertical Jeffries tube where Tuvok is working. Seeking a pretext to approach, Tom 'volunteers', much to the Vulcan's surprise. Tuvok turns out to be the only one not to have heard the news and offers his congratulations. Tom, it turns out, has come to the Vulcan for advice on impending fatherhood because he doesn't really know anyone else who's been through it. Tuvok tells him to "anticipate paradox". Tom nods and then tells Tuvok that he'll probably be 'volunteering' to work with him on a regular basis.

Now we jump forward a bit to B'Elanna and Tom's quarters, set up for a candle-lit dinner. B'Elanna enters after a long day at work, annoyed that the Captain seems to think she can't handle working and being pregnant at the same time and, as such, almost relieved her of duty. Tom says not to worry – 'godfather Neelix' is willing to step in for any babysitting. Torres replies that *Chakotay* wants to be the godfather. This prompts a discussion on names, free advice and folk wisdom, the latter two of which B'Elanna could really do without. She takes offence to a joke he makes about 'Klingon mothers' and wants to know what 'being Klingon' has to do with anything. She stops abruptly and remarks that this must be the behavioural volatility the Doctor was talking about. Tom gets her to start to relax, massaging her neck, telling her that none of it belongs to anyone but them. B'Elanna gently disagrees, saying it belongs to everyone, to which Tom replies 'lucky us', and means it.

However, the moment is interrupted by the Doctor over the con, and shortly later they're back in Sickbay. The EMH shows the couple a holographic extrapolation of the spine of their child about 10 months after birth – and shows them what he's discovered – a pronounced curve to the left. B'Elanna apparently had it, and so did her mother, prompting the Doctor to accidentally slip by telling them that "It tends to run in Klingon families, especially females..." He attempts to cover, but when pressed, he admits that the child is a girl, and otherwise healthy. She won't need surgery, rather, genetic modification. Tom gets an idea from the holographic representation of the spine and asks if they can see what the baby herself will look like. The Doctor tells them that it'd only be an approximation, and B'Elanna seems reluctant, but Tom presses and the Doctor complies. A baby forms around the spine slowly. She had pronounced forehead ridges, lending and edge to B'Elanna's smile. She's surprised at the ridges – after all, the child is only ¼ Klingon, but the Doctor tells her that Klingon traits can lay dormant for several generations. Tom, thrilled, is oblivious to her concern, and we cut away briefly to the first flashback scene – a campsite at night. The flashback is only momentary and then the scene is back in Sickbay, with Tom commenting that his daughter is 'perfect'. B'Elanna remains disquieted as the scene fades away and the act finishes.

Act Two kicks off back in Tom and B'Elanna's quarters. It's the end of the day and Tom, at least, in shorts and a t-shirt, is relaxing. B'Elanna, in bed and staring at the ceiling, however, is not. Tom doesn't notice her distant mood, but climbs into bed beside her. Nothing, he tells her, has ever scared him as much as finding out there was something wrong with the baby. He wrongly interprets her disquiet as concern for the baby and attempts to re-assure her, kisses her cheek and turns out the lights. B'Elanna stays awake as Tom rolls over in the dark.

Flashback to the campsite. B'Elanna's father and his brother Carl are busy puttering around the three-tents with her cousins nine year old Michael, eleven year old Dean, and thirteen year old Elizabeth. The kids are going out for a walk while the adults go fishing and are getting their final instructions. B'Elanna then enters, running over to her father with his fishing rod, proudly informing him that she's increased the field strength of the targeting lure. As it turns out, she doesn't want to go for a walk with her cousins, but would rather go fishing instead – the other kids don't like her. When Elizabeth yells at her to come over, he sends her off regardless.

The flashback ends and we're back in the Torres/Paris quarters. B'Elanna is rushing around – it's the day of the spine-correcting procedure – but Tom is taking it easy, using a 20th-century toaster to make his gourmet breakfast: peanut butter on toast. B'Elanna apparently had a very rough night and is too tired to eat – and she's also not in the mood to have her husband accompany her to the procedure this morning. Tom chooses not to take offence.

Sickbay next, and the Doctor is bustling around as per usual while B'Elanna takes up residence on one of the biobeds. He cheerfully tells her that he's been expanding his database again, this time in obstetrics and paediatrics, which prompts B'Elanna to ask if he's found something else wrong. Nothing is, happily… but in what may be seen as a less fortunate move for her, he's put together a "prenatal enrichment program," which includes ""transabdominal vocalization." Yup, you and B'Elanna guessed it – he wants to sing to the foetus. Not in the mood, she asks if they could go through it later – he suggests at their first parenting class. Still unimpressed, she masks her reaction and asks instead if they could get on with it. The Doctor begins the procedure, lowering the lights, which prompts another flashback.

B'Elanna and her cousins have stopped for lunch on their trek in a small clearing – B'Elanna's keeping to herself off to one side of the clearing, reading a PADD. Elizabeth tells her to come over and have some lunch since they know their fathers aren't going to catch anything. B'Elanna reluctantly agrees and takes her sandwich, but not before Dean puts a worm in it. She drops the sandwich in surprise and Dean laughs, joking that he thought Klingons liked their food live. She over-reacts, grabbing his shirt. Elizabeth attempts to defuse the situation, but with no success, and B'Elanna, on the verge of tears, runs off. The flashback ends and we cut back to Sickbay, where the Doctor tells her the procedure was successful.

Rather than going home or to Engineering, B'Elanna heads to the holodeck where she accesses her medical files and projects her baby into the grid. She orders the computer to extrapolate what the child will look like aged 12. She bears a striking resemblance to the young B'Elanna in the flashbacks. She then orders to computer to display her daughter's genome and starts cutting and pasting, attempting to eradicate the baby's Klingon DNA. When she's satisfied, she saves the changes, restricts the file and leaves.

In Act Three, we discover that B'Elanna has taken these proposed changes to the Doctor, and he's not happy about them, believing them to be completely unnecessary, and no argument she can make will convince him otherwise. It also turns out that she hasn't told Tom about the proposed changes either, and the Doctor sends her to do just that after promising to go over her research.

She catches him working on the Delta Flyer, and he's less taken with the idea than the Doctor was. He can't understand her concerns that she'll be treated as a monster. He thinks they should be proud of her and their daughter's mixed heritage, and that she'll be accepted without qualm on Voyager. She disagrees and they wind up taking the dispute to the Captain. B'Elanna wants Janeway to order the Doctor to genetically alter the baby to remove her Klingon traits. Janeway tells her that what she's asking is ethically questionable; especially since bother her doctor and her husband are against it. B'Elanna counters by saying it's no more than what they did to Seven of Nine by removing her Borg implants to make her life better. Both Janeway and Tom see the parallel, and is infuriated, telling her she can't known what will make her life better when she hasn't even started living it yet. He then makes the mistake of accidentally patronising her, dismissing her arguments as a 'mood swing'. At the point, Janeway intervenes and tells them that she's not going to order the Doctor to do the procedure, and tells them gently that they need to work things out.

Unfortunately for Tom, the argument in the briefing room has seen him kicked out of their quarters for the time being so he heads off over to that port in a storm – Harry's place. The ever-green ensign is practicing on his new saxophone, but quickly relinquishes it to set up the couch for Tom. They talk things over – Tom's understandably concerned that B'Elanna's only just fallen pregnant and they've already had a major spat. Harry re-assures him that they'll make up – they always do, but this only makes Tom more concerned – they're always fighting and making up – how would it affect their daughter? Harry tries to re-assure him again, without much success. The crux of the matter is the Klingon issue, or rather how sensitive B'Elanna's being about it. Tom more or less understands, but doesn't believe that gives her the right to do it – Kim consuls him to tell her that he *does* understand, and maybe that'll help them work it out between them. Tom's not so sure.

The next scene is another flashback. It's getting dark at the campsite, and the adults and other children are up waiting for B'Elanna, who's not been seen since she ran off from the others. Just as John prepares to go looking for her, she turns up, unapologetic. Elizabeth apologises and tells the adults that it was their fault – or, rather, Dean's for putting the worm in her sandwich. Dean apologises and B'Elanna accepts after a minute. Noticing her discomfort, Carl leads the other children away, leaving B'Elanna alone with her father, who asks her if there's something she wants to talk about. She tells him that she just wishes she weren't Klingon because everyone makes fun of her – Dean, the kids at school – they all hate her. Her father tries to consul her, telling her what the kids used to call him at school (Snore-ez), but she doesn't believe it's the same thing. John thinks that it is and the she simply needs to be less sensitive. Unconvinced, B'Elanna decides not to argue further, and John re-joins the group at the fire, leaving B'Elanna to read on her own. The flashback ends with B'Elanna back in hr quarters, hugging her knees with tears in her eyes.

Act four begins with another flashback. It's later at the campsite, and all the children are asleep – except B'Elanna, who listens as her father and uncle discuss the problems John's been having with both B'Elanna and his wife, Miral. John now believes that their parents were right and he shouldn't have gotten involved with the Klingon woman – his mother loved Miral but never though John had the constitution to live with one – let alone two.

B'Elanna is jarred out of the flashback by Chakotay, who'd joined her at a console in engineering. He's come with another name suggestion – Taya, the female form of Chakotay. She says she'll add it to the list – right after Floxia. He tells her that on second thought, maybe they should come up with a name on their own. He offers to take her down to the messhall for some coffee and she agrees. On the way there, they bump into Tom, and B'Elanna agrees to let him join them for breakfast. Chakotay then claims to have left his PADD behind peals off, leaving them to complete the trip alone. They make up, though neither of the has changed their minds, but before they can head back to their quarters together, the Doctor again interrupts and summons them to Sickbay.

Once there, the Doctor announces that he's gone over B'Elanna's proposal… and he's changed his mind, on the basis that the 'clash' between the baby's human and Klingon metabolism is more severe than he had originally thought. Still not happy about the course of action, but none the less now determined to procedure as soon as possible. He gives Tom a PADD containing the data so he can review the hologram's findings.

Tom takes the PADD to Astrometrics to consult Icheb, the person other than the Doctor with the greatest level of genetic expertise. He thanks both Icheb and Seven for helping B'Elanna when she collapsed and informs them of the further complications with the baby. Icheb agrees to go over the Doctor's findings and, to their surprised, discover that the EMH has made a miscalculation – something which should be impossible. Seven runs a diagnostic on the Doctor's program and discovers that he has, in fact, been tampered with. Realizing that B'Elanna is the most likely culprit, they order the computer to locate the lieutenant, only to discover that she's in Sickbay, and no doubt preparing to undergo the treatment. The act ends with a brief stop by Sickbay, where the Doctor tells B'Elanna he's relieved that she decided to act immediately.

Back in Astrometrics, Seven, Tom and Icheb run up against the precautions B'Elanna took in case she was found out – she's blocked communications to Sickbay and restricted access to the Doctors program. The contact the bridge and Tuvok agrees to meet them at Sickbay.

Once there, Tom explains the situation to Tuvok, and they attempt to enter Sickbay, only to discover the doors have been locked so not even the chief of security's codes can override them. They settle for a manual override and prise them open, head inside and order the Doctor to stop. Indignant, he tells them that they're interrupting a medical procedure. They, in turn, tell him that his program's been altered while they try to get around the force field erected to keep them out. Tom and B'Elanna argue with the Doctor caught in the middle while Tuvok continues to try to disable the force field. From the bridge, Harry manages to cut power to the surgical bay. Tuvok recommends to the Doctor that he terminate his program until they can find out the full extent of the alterations and the Doctor complies, shutting himself off. Incensed, Torres yells at her husband that he had no right to interfere. Tom dismisses the others and then turns back to his wife. He tells her that he never thought she'd go so far as to re-program the Doctor and she shoots back that it was only an upgrade – to enable him to see the situation better. He still doesn't understand why she wants to 'reconfigure' the baby and she eventually admits that it's not just concern about the way she'll be treated – it's about B'Elanna's father. With some prodding, she eventually tells him the story, how he took her and her cousins camping when she was 12 to 'bring them closer together'. It wasn't that they were always bad – he used to spoil her and she used to worship him – when she was little, but as she got older, problems arose. But the camping trip did exactly the opposite to what it was intended. She ended up trying to run away.

Flashback again to the campsite, B'Elanna quietly trying to stuff her gear into her backpack. Hearing the noise, her father climbs out of his tent and catches her. She has tears in her eyes and continues packing despite his presence. He tried to take her by the shoulders, but she pulls away furiously and tells him not to touch her. Shocked he asks what's wrong and she tells him he already knows. He says he doesn't, so she uses the words he used to describe her earlier in his conversation with her brother -"Maybe I'm just being "moody and unpredictable"" she tells him. She knows what he said to Uncle Carl. He tells her that she shouldn't listen to private conversations – her tells him he shouldn't have said the things he did about her mother. Her voice rises enough to wake the other campers. Carl, realising what's going on, sends them back to bed. John leads B'Elanna further from the campsite and they continue their discussion. He tells her that yes, 'he and her mother are having problems' but doesn't get a chance to conclude – she says that he doesn't love Miral anymore – and that he doesn't love her either. He's no different to anyone else – he doesn't like Klingons and said so.

Back briefly in Sickbay, Tom tells her she had every right to be angry after the things he said to her – but it's not because of what her father said that she's really angry – it's what she said. The flashback again, of young B'Elanna shouting at her father that if he couldn't stand living with them, he should just leave… and then a return to the present, where B'Elanna says that's exactly what he did. 3 weeks later, he left and never came back. Tom tells her that she can't blame herself – he left because he was unhappy with his marriage, not because she told him too. But he still doesn't get what it has to do with their baby… until he realizes that she's afraid he'll abandon them too. It takes some doing, but he assures her that he won't, and hopes that he'll be living with three or four Klingons one day instead of just two. B'Elanna breaks down.

The final scene begins in Sickbay after a brief log from the Doctor who is, understandably, happy to be alteration-free again. B'Elanna enters and apologises to him for tampering with his program. After a brief hesitation, he accepts, say she's not guilty due to her biochemistry. She says that's not exactly true, and begins to go further when she feels a strange sensation. The Doctor approaches, concerned, but she tells him there's nothing wrong – she just thought she felt the baby kick. She feels it a second time and the Doctor tentatively reaches out a hand. B'Elanna lets him feel the baby, which prompts him to remark on her liveliness – no questions where she got it from on his part. As it turns out, B'Elanna has another request of the Doctor regarding the baby – she asks him to be her godfather, rendering him, for once, speechless. Neelix, she says, already has Naomi and Chakotay knows less about children that Harry does so... He accepts, touched, and thanks her for the honor. Reluctant to leave, she asks if she can see her baby one more time, and the Doctor obliges, calling up the holographic projection again. B'Elanna's final words are: "She is cute, isn't she?"

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