One day long ago, when winters were warm and the summer shade was cool, twelve small animal species entered into a union known as the Alignment of the Wee. They swore an oath to protect and share the Tubes, their vast underground city, and unanimously elected the black-tailed prairie dog, Boomerang Lookout, their leader. In a grand ceremony, the animals presented Boomerang with an earring made of pure silver and crowned him their king. For one year, the Wee enjoyed harmony and prosperity under Boomerang's rule. They expanded their network of tunnels. They helped animals in need. Then Boomerang Lookout surprised them all by announcing he and all his prairie-dog friends were leaving the Tubes forever. The day the prairie dogs left, Boomerang removed the silver earring and crowned a new king, the rat Vinny Whiskers. Within weeks, the Wee were betrayed. Vinny Whiskers opened the Tubes to rats from the sewers, and in a few short months they overran the Tubes. The Wee were expelled from their homes. They had only one consolation: the sewer rats turned on Vinny Whiskers, and he met his end in the very sewers that had brought so much sorrow to the exiled animals. For years, the Wee searched for a way to win the Tubes back, but the rats were thousands strong, and the Wee had no army . . .