In the concise radio dialog, when a fighter jet is “in the groove” (i.e., 15-18 seconds to touchdown) to an aircraft carrier the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) onboard will say to the approaching aircraft, “Call the ball.”
He is asking if the pilot can see the round orange “meatball” on the Optical Landing System (OLS). If he can, the pilot simply says “Ball” and the LSO responds “Roger ball”. A few seconds later the fighter jet is on the deck.
So Q is referring to “things” being on plan and in the final stages.
I appreciate every explanation, thanks. My memory was on strike.