Headscratchers / Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 15 Dark Frontier

• So, we (the viewers) first meet the Borg when Q throws the Next Generation crew into the Delta Quadrant. That also seems to be the very first time anyone from the Federation sees them. Seven of Nine has been a drone for 18 years, meaning she was assimilated before TNG even started (and was mentioned to have probably been the first assimilated human, thus before the Borg took 18 Enterprise crewmembers). Despite that, Seven's parents were studying the Borg, and had told the Federation they wanted to go on an exploration to do so (and they study a Ktarian drone, when Ktarians are an Alpha Quadrant species). How does that work out? How can Seven's parents study the Borg, which were unknown then, and how can the Borg have assimilated a Ktarian when they haven't been to the Alpha Quadrant yet?
  • The Ktarian part may simply indicate that the species is widespread. As for the discrepancy with regards to the Borg, the writers try to cover for this with lines like "we're ready to start chasing our theories about the Borg," spoken by Marcus Hansen. I mean, if Guinan knew about the Borg, it seems not be entirely far-fetched that other people might have picked up some awareness of them too. Especially when you consider that Generations shows a shipload of El-Aurian refugees coming to Earth. Did they all pledge silence about the Borg?
  • Guinan, judging by her comments in Time's Arrow, seemed to be involved in the El Aurian social elite. It is possible that most of the refugees simply didn't know much about the Borg beyond big scary guys turned up and started shooting and scooping people. Guinan might have been one of the few, or even only one, who knew more. There are only a couple of hundred who managed to survive the Borg onslaught and the Nexus ribbon.
  • And, subsequently, via retcon, we get the knowledge that Starfleet knew OF the Borg prior to the Enterprise's encounter with them in Q Who, through the events of Enterprise's Regeneration, which also mentioned that Zefram Cochrane would occasionally allude to the Borg, even if it was mostly passed off as him being drunk and rambling. So rumors and secondhand knowledge were available to the Federation when the Hansens set out on their journey, so giving them foundation enough to have sanction and support in their search efforts, at least as long as they remained in Federation space (given that they eventually say that they've crossed into Romulan territory and defied Federation orders to return).
  • Given that Erin says they A, deviated from their flight plan; B, illegally crossed the Neutral Zone; and C, defied orders to return to Federation space, it's entirely possible that once the Raven was lost, Starfleet decided to hush up their mission and no one who wasn't already in the know could learn about them or their research.
• Why were the Ferengi trying to break into Fort Knox if they consider gold Worthless Yellow Rocks?
  • Perhaps they now store gold-pressed latinum there, for trade with planets outside the Federation. Could also be the novelty value — own a piece of authentic hew-mon economic history!
• Why in the world did they think that using the Hansens’ technology would help them against the Borg? They know the Hansens were assimilated, so the Borg would know everything about their methods. There’s never any indication they’re modifying the technology to update it or make it different, and the Borg Queen even points out that it’s the same. It’s pretty surreal after multiple episodes (“The Omega Directive”, “Drone”) explicitly pointing out the extent of the Borg hivemind.
  • Because it is helpful. The Borg can adapt to it at will having assimilated it previously, but they have to catch on that they need to adjust their sensors in order to do so first. It's just like trying to detect a cloaked ship, most of the time they know how to do so, they just aren't using the right methods until they realize they need to. So long as the rescue team didn't attract attention the technology was effective at hiding them.