Truth was stranger than fiction at a recent homeland security conference where police commanders looked into computer capabilities à la the Star Trek Enterprise and information officers considered the merits of telepathy. More mythic than the subject matter, though, were the consultants—an elite squad of science fiction writers that proffer their imaginations to security officials “in the national interest,” according to their motto.

It’s not the first time the Sci-Fi set—which operate under the name Sigma—have hobnobbed in high-level government circles, according to an article in the Washington Post. The group, which formed about 15 years ago, has consulted with the Department of Energy, Army, Air Force, NATO and other agencies. Their latest gig at the 2009 Homeland Security Science and Technology Stakeholders Conference was an effort to help security officials think outside the box.

“Fifty years ago, science-fiction writers told us about flying cars and a wireless handheld communicator,” Homeland Security's Science and Technology division spokesman Christopher Kelly told USA Today. “Although flying cars haven't evolved, cell phones today are a way of life. We need to look everywhere for ideas, and science-fiction writers clearly inform the debate.”

The writers also have a healthy dose of sci with their fi—a majority of the 40 or so Sigma members have PhDs in the physical sciences.

"We're well-qualified nuts," Sigma’s Jerry Pournelle told USA Today.

Chatting about improbable scenarios might seem like a pleasantly diverting way to stimulate original thinking, but one might wonder, can anything really come of it? Although the answer could be unknowable, scoffers might want to check out an unrelated—or is it?—Homeland Security Science and Technology news release.

Titled Triage Technology with a Star Trek Twist, the release hails the early prototype of a device that can give first responders vital readings on a patient—pulse, body temperature, and respiration—quickly and from a distance. For those not up on Star Trek minutiae, the machine mirrors the Tricorder used by Doctors Bones and Crusher to determine the ills of Enterprise crewmembers.

Although the new technology, called the Standoff Patient Triage Tool, doesn’t have the subtlety of a Tricorder, developer see great potential for increasing triage evaluation times and accuracy. Now if they could only perfect that transporter, evacuations would be a breeze.