'We are under attack'

There's every parent's worst nightmare, and then there's this:

"We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets. We are barricaded in the engine room. . . ."

The e-mail that 26-year-old Thomas Urbik sent to his mother, Katy Urbik, in Wheaton while he was aboard the Kenya-bound Liberty Sun on Tuesday didn't end with a smiley face -- or a "just kidding."

For 30 minutes, she sat in agony, waiting to hear more.

"She was just completely unglued because our worst fears were coming true, and we were getting a play-by-play via e-mail," her husband, Mike, said Wednesday.

But then, another e-mail arrived.

"I am safe and well. …