[Ghoulish Delight]

Two answer your two questions:

1) Essentially, yes the speed of light was a lot faster back then. At least, so goes a current viable theory, that the density and extreme temperature of the universe meant the speed of light was faster (i.e., the speed of light in a vacuum is constant for any single state of the universe. At this point, the rate of expansion has slowed enough that the continued variation is imperceptible on a human scale)

2) You've hit upon another common viable theory, that the universe does through periodic expansion and contraction. Some observations seem to suggest that perhaps the current rate of expansion is slowing, signaling that the next contraction is coming "soon" (i.e., several billion years).