He racked both his brain and the statistics book for weeks after first finding out there was a controlled player on his team, but to no avail. D’Armato had the highest kill ratio on the team. That wasn’t particularly unusual for a hidden safety. Orval Frazier was far and away the most aggressive player, but he worked mainly with his bare hands. He didn’t use his knife much, nor did he kill many of his opponents. As T.K. understood it, that would make him less than an ideal choice by IBC standards. The rest of them, Pfleg, Minick, Brye, Clausen, Dedemus, DeGeller, Michalski, Healy and Howe all had their moments of brilliance. They had their share of off days, too. Which left T.K. as much in the dark as ever.

T.K. puts his hands on his knees and bends over. “Check with me at the line.”

They break and line up.

T.K. has been calling almost every play at the line ever since that disastrous run in the first quarter that resulted in his almost losing Frazier. T.K. can’t prevent Matision’s getting relayed knowledge concerning player’s actions and locations after the ball has been snapped. He can, by calling all his plays only seconds before they’re executed, deny Matision advanced access to that important bit of information.

T.K. studies the defense. Deprived of electronic intelligence, Matision has turned to the traditional defensive technique of keying, concentrating intently on T.K.’s actions, trying to read from their sum total what T.K. is about to do so he can react accordingly. To throw off Matision’s timing, T.K. counters with a head, hip or shoulder fake just prior to receiving the ball.

As Pfleg said, the right side tackle and end are almost imperceptibly leaning in each other’s direction, usually a certain indication of a stunt. T.K. weighs it, but decides to ignore it. To the Prospectors, it’s common knowledge how much he enjoys working against such a tactic, and it could be a setup. Even if Pfleg isn’t wired up, it’s a safe bet the control room picked up his comment on a directional mike. By now it’s probably been relayed to Matision. Best to stay away from it. Instead, he calls for a long pass to Michalski. “Red six, one, three, five.” Healy centers him the ball.