This will contradict with Einstein on several points, but it was made in a similar way to him. Thought experiment. Time. Time is continuous throughout the universe. It does not change, and cannot change, because it is only a concept. Not something physical. One cannot go back and reset the universe. Only forward. It is the same time here (since the big-bang) as it is in Alpha Centari. This point of time being the same is crucial to the rest of the theory. Reaction speed. I use this term for lack of a better term. By reaction speed, I mean how fast something can happen in a set amount of time. Energy acting on an atom takes time due to difficulties, right? After all, if there was no difficulties and everything happened instantly, everything would have happened by now. Also, you may run into trouble with relativity, so throw that out and replace it with a universal grid where everything has a position compared to the center of the universe, and it's all in little boxes. Now lets consider how this applies to light speed. The universe was spread out at the speed of light, but not at the same rate. This means, for one reason or another, the same thing did not act in the same rate. This is where the theory has some gaps. It has no explanation for why things act differently, especially then, but states that things can happen quicker or slower. One possible explanation for why light does what it does is that it is being acted on by the 4 basic forces, but most strongly gravity and electromagnetism. The farther away from the force, the faster it can go. However, the forces are more or less in balance across the universe, with the only noticeable changes being near large gravity fields, like stars and planets. That may explain why clocks run faster in space. Not because time is more concentrated near earth, but because the clock has an easier time running. Or do I have that backwards? Either way, gravity is either making thing easy or making things hard, but not collecting time. Perhaps you would like to elaborate on this. I will answer your questions the best I can, but this is one of those "It seemed so much simpler inside my head" kind of deals.