IMHO, something serious is lacking if ships can't retreat from combat (as of present). The current "space is nothing but a little square" setup means that even if I've a dedicated fast scout it won't be able to make use of its speed advantage to survive. Do you really think ships will get trapped in a corner in combat in real life 300 years from now?!?!
No offense intended to anybody but the argument on whether a retreat order should be implemented as some of you suggested is quite pointless - it SHOULD. The real question is HOW you are going to do it.