-> The new aliens are designated by the Borg as Species 8472, and the
-> implication is that they were located by the Borg several months ago.
-> This provides an interesting tally on how many species total the Borg
-> has come into contact with.  Included in that 8,472 species would
-> presumably be all Alpha Quadrant species the Borg have come into contact
-> with, including humans and every other species on a Federation ship
-> assimilated by the Borg. the Borg several months ago.
-> How many years would it take the Borg to contact 8,400 species, do you
-> think?  Some people believe that the Borg have been around for tens of
-> thousands of years, meaning an average of well under one species a year.
-> Other people believe what Gene Roddenberry once speculated about -- that
-> the Borg grew out of the machine world that created V'Ger, 3-400 years
-> before the events in Scorpion.  This would yield around 25 new species a
-> year.
don't forget there are also quite a few delta quadrant species like the
kazon and others who may have had missing ships and thusly had their
species added to the list of victims by the borg. i don't know if the
borg may have decided to target earth because one of their probes from
the distant past (about kirk's time) vanished near the earth system just
as it was about to assimilate the earth as pure data rather than as a
resource of people and technology, but it's a good theory until the
paramount gods warrant there is an origin to where the v-ger probe's
home planet is revealed.
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