I read a story like that once. There was some bit of message delivery technology that that was on a mission but had trouble and got stranded on a primitive planet. But it had the ability to take the dumb bird critters that were there and genetically engineer them into a flock that (over time) built the industry to build a spaceship so the message could get through.
I read one long ago where the alien taught tech to build a way to get to a meeting point. Probably a fairly common plot?
Pete
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“How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.”