“The Gauntlet is where drug mules go to die,” says Tara Dean. In September of 2081, Tara is the queen of illegal vodka mules. She, Hugo and a newly faithful and refreshed Virgil Benedict are flying 4,000 liters of moonshine west out of Lawrence down Interstate Hovway 70 to meet their distributor, Earl King, in Manhattan, Kansas. Earl King is reputed to be a mean man. But he’s not half as mean as what’s lurking in the digital shadows between our heroes and their destination.