Retrograde! - A RUMOURS Story

Retrograde! - A RUMOURS Story by BillA1

Disclaimer: The characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman & Flash their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from the Justice League Animated Series episode: StarCrossed Part 3 written by Rich Fogel & Dwayne McDuffie.

The RUMOURS stories are a special collection of stories based on the lyrics from the 1977 Fleetwood Mac album of the same name. A special thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story. A sequel to Birth of the Ronin - A RUMOURS Story.

Retrograde! - A RUMOURS Story

Rating: (PG-13)

Synopsis: Personal fallout from the Thanagarian withdrawal

Well, did she make you cry,

Make you break down, shatter your illusions of love.

And is it over now - do you know how

To pick up the pieces and go home? - (Gold Dust Woman) - S. Nicks

(Earth - Hours after the destruction of the Hyperspace Bypass)

At this moment, she wished she were anywhere but here. Here was in his quarters aboard the command ship.

Sergeant Kyr Ral had been Commander Hro Talak's personal assistant and security guard for almost seven years. She'd been there in the beginning when Talak assumed command of the Thirteenth Expeditionary Task Force; when he assigned that woman to spy on the planet below; when Admiral Zam, now a High Council member, named him the invasion strike force commander; and she'd been there when that woman broke his heart and betrayed her own people.

Betrayed him.

Ral had been in the room hours ago when the commander told that woman how long it would take to rebuild elsewhere because of her betrayal and when the traitor answered that they'd better get started, it had been all Ral could do to keep from killing her right then.

But the commander had ordered them to stand down and everyone did.

The traitor and her cohorts were allowed to leave the ship alive and Ral swore to her dying day that she would never understand why the commander allowed it. That alone would not sit well with the High Council. Even the newest recruit knew that traitors must die and not live to profit by their acts. Yet, the commander didn't even want to leave an assassination team behind. Everyone was ordered back to the fleet, back to the assembly point to make repairs on the ships damaged by the humans, damaged by the Justice League.

She stood in a corner of his quarters where the view screen couldn't see her and listened as the commander tried to explain to the High Council what had happened, what had gone wrong. In other times and in other places, he probably wouldn't have allowed her to be in the room when he reported to the Council. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she knew he wasn't the same man he'd been forty-eight hours ago.

There was something different about him, different about the circumstances. Perhaps, he knew this report would be badly received and just wanted someone else in the room with him, someone he could trust with a friendly face.

She knew he liked her. After all, you don't keep someone on your staff for seven years if you don't like them.

And she liked him - a lot.

She was aware that there had been rumors about them, rumors that she was his "extra" personal assistant. She ignored them, but she didn't kid herself. If he had asked, she would have said "yes" in a heartbeat, but they both knew having sex with one's bodyguard weakens, not strengthens, one's personal security.

So he never asked and she never offered.

Besides, while he had not been completely faithful to his promised one over the last five years, she knew he never did anything with the enlisted women, only the female officers.

She smiled. He'd ask them to breakfast but expected them to have spent the night before with him.

But since Lieutenant Meca Ayres died eighteen months ago when her squadron crushed the local resistance on the planet that had housed the third bypass generator, he hadn't strayed from his promised one, not once. Ayres' viper had been destroyed by anti-aircraft fire and Ral recalled that the commander mourned her loss as if she were family.

But the mourning stopped when he was reunited with his promised one, the traitor. Ral knew that the commander had been happy when he'd first seen the traitor upon their landing, happier than he had been in years. And there'd been no doubt in Ral's mind they'd had breakfast, lunch and dinner before her betrayal.

Then there was Paran Dul.

Ral was pretty certain that the commander had never considered asking the scientist to breakfast. She was too aloof, too wrapped in her work. No. Not her. He'd never ask her to bed...to breakfast.

It hurt Ral to look at him now.

He was badly bruised from his fight with the humans, but not beaten. He was unbowed and she'd hoped the Council members could see that and maybe not judge him too harshly for this failure.

But Councilor Zam didn't seem to notice or care. Zam just looked angry.

"Your last report said you expected to engage the bypass within hours. What happened?" Zam demanded. Ral noticed that the council chambers looked different. Was the council still on Thanagar? What was that noise in the background? Was the High Council on a star ship?

Talak was silent for a moment. He lowered his head when he finally did speak. "My lord...the agent we sent... was converted by the humans and ...assisted the natives in sabotaging and destroying the project."

Zam pointed his laser spear at the screen. His tone was sharp. "Let's be clear, Commander. Not we. You! The agent you sent! Is anything salvageable from the project? Can we relocate and rebuild on another nearby moon or planet?"

The commander shook his head. "I'm sure everything was completely destroyed, sir. There's nothing left." He raised his head and looked into the stern faces on the screen.

Zam snarled at Talak. "I take it the traitor is dead."

Ral winced. She knew Zam had personally recommended Talak to be the invasion commander and he took this defeat as a personal smirch on his honor. At least a dead traitor would take some of the sting out of this disaster. But he won't even get that.

Talak lowered his head again. "No, sir. She's still alive." Ral could literally see the commander slump as he awaited the inevitable response.

There was a long silence. Talak dared only a quick glance up at the screen. Zam was deliberate as he spoke. His eyes narrowed. "That's twice you failed me, Talak, twice you failed our people. You failed to launch the invasion on schedule and you failed to kill a traitor."

Talak raised his head. "Yes, sir, I know."

Zam stood. The other council members said nothing, did nothing, except stare into the screen. This was Zam's for action, Ral thought, Zam's for resolution.

"What's the status of your operations officer, Lieutenant Kragger?" Zam demanded.

Oh my stars, he's going to relieve him of command.

Ral trembled as her heart pounded in her chest and a knot formed in her stomach. There had been privileges and perks being the personal assistant to the Commander for the last seven years. Others listened to her when she spoke and did what she said because they were afraid, afraid of the Commander's wrath if they didn't comply.

Yes, there had been times when she'd abused her implied authority, she knew that. But what's the use of having power if you don't use it?

She shook her head. If the Commander was relieved, she would probably be reassigned within the fleet, most likely to a garbage scow as payback for being associated with this failure. She pursed her lips tightly. If he was relieved, she was finished.

She could tell that the commander knew what was going to happen next, what was coming. "He is... incapacitated, my lord," Talak offered. "He was seriously injured in battle."

Zam looked at the other council members who nodded back at him.

"I see," he said. "Commander Hro Talak, you are to bring the fleet back to Thanagar at best speed. You are ordered to combine your fleet with the Eleventh Expeditionary Task Force at Nati Prime. You will turn over your strike force to Lian Civ, the Task Force Commander." He paused before adding, "You will then report to the Task Force flag ship for a board of inquiry into this failure. Acknowledge your reassignment!"

Ral swallowed hard, but Talak displayed no outward emotion as he said, "Yes sir, I acknowledge the reassignment. Sir, I know I failed you and -"

Zam cut the commander off. "Council out." The screen went black.

He lowered his head and murmured, "By your command," and was silent.

Ral stepped forward and stood behind the commander, who now stared at the blank screen. She cleared her throat. She wanted to scream out that she was sorry, that he didn't deserve this, that she wanted to hold him and try to somehow make it better, anyway she could, any way he would let her. "Standing by for your orders, sir," she said, her voice cracking.

He sighed deeply and turned to face her. He must have seen the sadness in her eyes because he smiled for a fleeting moment. "We've been together a long time, Ral, but it looks like you're getting a new boss." He paused and frowned. "But until then, this is my fleet, still my command."

He cleared his throat and stood a little straighter. His voice was firm and strong as he said, "Tell the Operations Center to plot the most direct course to Nati Prime. Once plotted, advise me. I want no ship, no crewmember left behind. This is not a retreat, it's a withdrawal. We will return as we left - intact and ready for battle. Tell the ops chief I want to be able to speak to the fleet, audio only, in one hour. Pass the word to Paran Dul, I want to see her in forty-five minutes. Between now and then I don't wish to be disturbed, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," she answered.

She walked to the doorway, stopped and turned back to face him. He was staring at the blank screen again. Her heart broke. "Commander?" she said almost apologetically.

He looked at her. "You forget something, Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir," she answered softly. She lowered her head, then looked at him. She cleared her throat again trying to suppress the emotion starting to bubble in her. "I'm sorry." Her voice broke. She felt like she should say something else, anything else, but she couldn't trust herself to say another word without giving in to her sadness.

He nodded, then pursed his lips together. "I know." Then his expression flattened. "Get to Ops."

She wiped away the tears that had started to fall from beneath her helmet. "Yes, sir," she said as she turned to leave.

Paran Dul sat outside Commander Talak's quarters waiting for his sergeant to give her clearance to enter. She was angry. The destruction of the hyperspace bypass represented years of work for her, years of trying to get recognition as a top scientist and not just as a top woman scientist. The traitor had ruined what could have been a crowning achievement in engineering and ruined her opportunity for recognition in her own right. The traitor had doomed her to be somebody's assistant - again.

She stood as the sergeant knocked on the commander's door to announce her and she heard the commander authorize her entry. She entered and the sergeant closed the door behind her, remaining on the other side.

"You wanted to see me, Commander?" Paran said.

Talak was seated at his writing desk. He looked up at her, set aside the papers he had in his hands and stood. She tried not to look at his many bruises, but they were all over his body. She'd not seen him since she'd told him that the bypass was almost complete. She decided she would focus on his eyes when she spoke to him and try to ignore his injuries.

"Sit down," he said, pointing to a straight back chair near his desk. She sat. She'd been in this room once before to discuss personnel staffing issues, but most of her meetings with him had been in the conference room. The conference room was now a makeshift infirmary because of the many casualties they had suffered at the hands of the humans, at the hands of the Justice League.

"What options do we have?" he asked her. "Can we build another bypass on a nearby moon? Do we have the materials? Can we get the materials?"

She took a deep breath. "No, Commander. We're finished. We brought enough materials to fabricate this last bypass, but not enough to do it twice." He sighed and turned his back to her.

"Eight years of my life invested in this - tossed away," she added. "Thrown away by that sosi'hab Shayera Hol! She did this!"

Talak turned around and glared at her. She shrank in her chair as he bellowed, "Let it go! Just let it go!!"

Paran stood up. She would not "let it go." Her life and her career were over. How could he not see that? Surely he knew how important this was to her and to the war effort.

"How can you say that?" she exclaimed. "We have to go all the way back to Thanagar to get materials to build somewhere else. Do you have any idea - "

He cut her off. "Believe me, Dul, I have some idea," he snapped. His eyes narrowed.

There was a knock on the door. The sergeant stuck her head in. "We're ready with fleet wide communications whenever you are, sir. Just use the intercom; you're speaking on channel three."

Talak sat down at his desk and shuffled some papers in front of him. He looked up at the sergeant and nodded. "Thank you, Sergeant."

He pointed at Paran. "I want you to stay in here, Ral, and keep our friend here quiet. If she says anything while I'm speaking, silence her. Use your own discretion as to how."

Paran was surprised. This can't be because of what I just said, can it? She squirmed in her chair as he added, "Temporary or permanent, doesn't matter to me, Ral." She watched the sergeant nod. Paran started to say something, but after looking at the sergeant again, changed her mind, deciding that the sergeant probably favored a permanent silence to a temporary one.

Paran watched Talak take another deep breath and flip the intercom switch.

His voice was firm as he spoke, "Warriors of the Task Force, this is Commander Talak. As you are all aware by now, the local natives succeeded, with the help of a traitor, in destroying the bypass we built to make a direct assault on the Gordanian Homeworld.

"We've been ordered back to Thanagar to link up with the Eleventh Expeditionary Task Force. Our combined forces under the leadership of Commander Civ will push and continue to take the fight to enemy. We will make best speed, leaving no flyable ship and no Thanagarian warrior behind.

"Our operations officer, Lieutenant Kragger, was seriously wounded while defending the bypass and is unable to continue with his duties. Therefore, I am awarding a battlefield promotion to Sergeant Kyr Ral. She is hereby promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and immediately assigned as the Operations officer for the fleet until Lieutenant Kragger recovers. I know all of you join me in congratulating Lieutenant Ral on this promotion.

"Finally, warriors, I want to be clear on this: I, and I alone, am responsible for the failure of our mission. I failed to provide you with the professional leadership required to make this mission a success. I will not fail you again. I will give Commander Civ an experienced, top notch task force that is well trained, well armed and ready for battle. I have never been in a more cohesive, more motivated or more prepared to win unit than you. You should be proud of yourselves because I am proud of you.

"Warriors, it has been my honor to lead you and a privilege to be part of this unit. Victory will be ours. Talak out."

He flipped the intercom switch, turning off his transmission and then smiled at the surprised sergeant.

"S-S-Sir," she stammered. "I...I don't know what to say."

He stood up. "Just say 'thank you.' You deserve this, you've earned this."

Paran thought that the newly promoted lieutenant wanted to rush over to the commander and hug him. Instead the commander walked over to Ral and offered his hand in congratulations. The excited Ral grasped his hand with both of hers and shook them vigorously.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Talak said, withdrawing his hand gingerly. "I'm already injured. Let's not make it worse. Besides, there's no reason why both of us should lose our careers over this failure when we link up with Civ's forces." Ral put her hands to her sides, but continued to nervously tap them against her thighs.

"Go to Shaye - the traitor's quarters," he continued clearing his throat, "and take her uniforms and anything else there you can use. You can pick up the balance of what you need at ship stores. Here. Take this."

He handed her the golden helmet of a female officer. "Use this to get to ship stores, then get yourself another mask - an officer's mask. Then return this one to me."

Ral looked at the helmet for a moment before taking it from the commander. "Sir, you're going to keep this?" she asked. Paran suddenly wondered if that was the traitor's helmet.

Talak frowned. "Don't worry about what I'll do with her helmet. You have an Operations Center to run now, Lieutenant. I want to be underway within four hours. I also want you to assign someone to replace you on my security detail."

"Yes, sir," Ral said. She turned her back to the commander and to Paran and removed her red and gold helmet. Paran noticed that Ral had short black hair like hers. Ral put the golden helmet on and after adjusting it, turned to face the commander.

He smiled. "It looks good on you, Kyr." He paused as if searching for the right words then said, "Kyr, would you have breakfast with me tomorrow?" He added softly almost as if he were pleading, "Please?"

Paran thought the new lieutenant was going to jump out of her skin. She didn't understand why the lieutenant smiled as broadly as she did. "It would be my pleasure, sir. I'm looking forward to it."

Talak nodded and said softer than before, "Thank you. So am I." He frowned, cleared his throat and then said in his normal voice, "You're dismissed, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir," she said. Ral did an about-face and left, closing the door behind her.

Paran looked at the closed door, then back at Talak. "Commander, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know."

Talak stood next to the view screen. His eyes narrowed as he spoke to her. "It doesn't make any difference now. When we left Thanagar you had a mission and support staff. Now that the mission is over, I am taking your support staff and aides and integrating them into the fleet. You may keep your quarters and continue to eat in the officer's mess. But you get no other special privileges from this point on. You're dismissed."

Paran's jaw dropped. "Wait. I don't understand. Why punish me because you failed?" Squirming in her chair, she quickly added, "Those were your words, Commander. I'm an engineer, my staff are scientists; we're not soldiers."

Talak moved toward her and seemed to tower over her. If he's trying to intimidate me, he's doing a good job.

She stood. He didn't move. "You are now," he hissed. "Everybody pulls their weight...no more free rides for you or your staff. That bypass was our last hope in more ways than one and we didn't get done." He paused and she thought for a moment that she saw sadness in his eyes. His jaw clenched tightly. "We're not going back to Thanagar, we're going to Nati Prime. That's the fallback position just inside our solar system. The only reason the fleet would consolidate there is because the Gordanians are already on the edge of our star system."

They're going to finish us off before we can get to them! This is all that Hol woman's fault. "Oh," she said after she cleared her throat. She hesitated before adding, "What can I...is there anything I can do to help?"

He said nothing then suddenly grinned at her. She didn't like his grin. She'd never liked it and this grin gave her chills. "Can you handle a laser pistol?" he asked.

"About as well as anyone, I guess."

"Good," Talak said stepping back. She breathed a sigh of relief. "You are now assigned to my security detail," he continued. "That way, Ral doesn't have to assign someone from the fleet to do a job you can do. Catch up with Lieutenant Ral and tell her we've talked and you are to be assigned to my office."

He walked back to the view screen and folded his arms across his chest as he stared into the blank screen. "It will give you a chance to learn tactics, lead troops," he said. "You may need those skills to survive."

He returned to his desk and sat down. He picked up the papers he'd held in his hands when she entered, and resumed reading.

Paran didn't know what to make of what had just happened. When she woke up this morning she was going to be the savior of the Empire; now she was going to be a body guard.

"Commander, I...I don't know what to say," she mumbled in a low voice.

He looked up from his papers. "Don't say anything else but 'Yes, Commander.' Catch up with Ral. She's either in the traitor's room or in ship stores. Have her issue you a pistol. Then come back here and I'll go over your duties with you. Plan on a working dinner tonight."

Paran eyes widened. Everyone had heard of the commander's reputation. She was not interested in being added to his list of conquests. Apparently, her concern showed enough on her face because he added, "Don't look at me like that. You will be working in your new office and I will be here in my quarters working."

She gave a sigh of relief. "Oh. Well I... just assume...I...I guess the full implication of what you've said has...just registered now." she said softly.

"Don't be nervous. Talk to Ral. She's been with me for almost seven years. You've nothing to worry about, Paran. You'll do fine. Now go." He waved his hand at her in a dismissive fashion and then looked back at his papers.

"Oh. Yes. Right, Commander." She suddenly wondered why he didn't find her desirable. Yes, she had been somewhat stand-offish in the past, but she had work to do then. Still, she thought that she was reasonably attractive. Why didn't he think so? She resented his declared lack of intention.

As she left the commander's office she understood her world had changed forever. Before she had been a respected scientist seeking honors and now she was a bodyguard.

A bodyguard to a disgraced commander. She cursed her fate.

Her plans and her bypass could have restored Thanagar to its former glory. It could have delivered a crushing blow to the Gordanians. But now they'd missed their window of opportunity to deliver that blow because of the traitor.

She knew if the Gordanians were in the Thanagarian star system, she'd never see her home again, never set foot on Thanagar again.

For almost eight years, she'd put her life on hold, never looked for a mate, never thought about anything but work. After all, when the Gordanians were defeated, she'd have plenty of time to enjoy life, plenty of time to collect the accolades that would be coming her way if she was successful.

Now she knew. She was destined to die on this ship. She was certain of that. She was going to die in space, away from home, away from friends.

The commander's disgrace, her new status as a body shield, even the horrible torture the humans must have inflicted on Kragger - this was all Shayera Hol's fault. Paran quickened her step as she went to find Lieutenant Ral. She resolved if she wasn't to see a Thanagarian victory, Shayera Hol would pay for a Thanagarian loss.

Shayera Hol would die. Shayera Hol must die.

And this scientist would make it her business to ensure that the traitor paid dearly for destroying Paran's life, her hopes, her home.

Yes, the traitor would pay with her own life. Paran would see to that.

END